MILLINOCKET – A defensive battle between two of Eastern Maine Class C’s top schoolboy basketball teams came down to one final stand, and with it the Houlton Shiretowners survived a trip to Wentworth Gymnasium with a 43-41 win over Stearns on Monday night.

Trailing by those two points, the Minutemen had one last possession with eight seconds and the length of the court to go.

Senior guard Derek DiFrederico took the inbounds pass and raced downcourt against defensive pressure from 6-foot-6 Houlton sophomore Mark Socoby.

DiFrederico, who already had scored 28 points, drove to the lane, and went up for the shot. Socoby – who was switched onto the 5-10 DiFrederico for just this possession – got his hand on the ball, and blocked it out of bounds off DiFrederico with three seconds left.

Houlton then inbounded the ball and ran out the clock to earn its seventh straight win and improve to 13-1 on the season.

“Coach put me on DiFred because I have longer arms, and we were only up two and we didn’t want a 3 to beat us,” said Socoby, who fought off a solid defensive effort from Stearns guard Steve Cyr to finish with 14 points, nine rebounds, and six blocked shots. “He tried to go by me, but I got my hand on the ball when he went through.”

“I was a little nervous,” added Houlton coach Sean Callahan. “That call could have gone either way. I know their coach was looking for the foul, but, knowing Mark, he probably got all ball.”

The final play marked Stearns’ fifth turnover of the fourth quarter, a few too many in this game of valued possessions.

“Down the stretch Houlton outrebounded us and we threw the ball away a few times,” said Stearns coach Wade Duplisea, whose Minutemen fall to 11-4. “But all in all I have to give both teams credit. There was a lot of heart out there, and both teams really stayed with it.”

Leif O’Connell, a 6-6 junior forward, battled through second-half foul trouble to lead Houlton with 19 points, including a hand in the Shiretowners’ last seven points of the game.

Upon returning to the contest with 3:39 left after drawing his fourth foul early in the third quarter, O’Connell made a 15-foot jumper and a follow-up shot after a Stearns turnover to give Houlton a 40-39 lead with 2:25 left.

He later penetrated into the lane and fed Socoby for a three-point play that extended the margin to 43-39 with 27 seconds left.

“My assistant coach [Todd Willard] and I were arguing about when to bring Leif back,” Callahan said. “As the game went on he said, ‘You better put him back in there,’ because they had the lead, and when Leif got back into the game he really played within himself.”

DiFrederico shot 13 of 22 from the field, making 5 of 7 tries in the first quarter to offset nine early points by O’Connell as Stearns outscored the Shiretowners 16-14.

But from there the game’s pace slowed to a battle of half-court defenses. DiFrederico scored all eight of his team’s points in the second quarter as the teams entered the break locked in a 24-24 tie.

After O’Connell picked up three fouls early in the third quarter, Stearns gained control. A 3-pointer by Matt Barnett and two jumpers by DiFrederico gave the Minutemen their largest lead, 33-26 with 3:22 left in the period.

Houlton countered with an 8-0 run ignited by an Adam Miles layup and featuring two baskets and an assist from Socoby to take a 37-36 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“All in all, Houlton played their game and we didn’t,” said Duplisea, who also got a 14-rebound performance from 6-4 senior center Matt LeGassey. “We like to be a little more uptempo than we were, and they like to set it up for Socoby and Leif.”

SHIRETOWNERS 43, MINUTEMEN 41

Houlton (13-1) Stearns (11-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

O’Connell 7 14 4 5 19 Cyr 1 7 2

B. Miles 0 6 0 0 0 DiFrederico 13 22 2 2 28

Socoby 6 13 1 1 14 C. Jandreau 0 0

Hill 1 8 0 0 2 Barnett 1 5 0 3

Bartlett 1 7 0 0 2 McInnis 0 0 0

Duff 1 1 0 0 2 LeGassey 3 13 6

A. Miles 1 1 0 0 2 McGreevy 1 2

Lloyd 1 2 0 0 2

Totals 18 52 5 6 43 19 52 41

Houlton 14 24 32 43

Stearns 16 24 35 41

3-pt. goals ? Houlton (2-11): O’Connell 1-2, Socoby 1-5, Hill 0-1, B. Miles 0-3; Stearns (1-5); Barnett 1-1, Cyr 0-1, DiFrederico 0-3

Attendance: 450 (est.)

JV: Houlton 64-52