Shiretowners rally to upset Dragons Dexter zones defeat Stearns

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BANGOR – Early in the second quarter of their Eastern Maine Class C girls basketball quarterfinal Tuesday, the Houlton Shiretowners had twice as many turnovers as points.

And there was little to suggest things were about to change.

“We weren’t really ready for the atmosphere here. We were really nervous,” said sophomore guard Danielle Sewell.

But change did arrive in the form of a defensive switch, and seventh-seeded Houlton rallied to wear down second-ranked Woodland 50-39 at the Bangor Auditorium.

Coach Jerry Tweedie’s Shiretowners, making its Class C tournament debut after dropping from Class B this year, will play third-seeded Dexter in a 7:05 p.m. semifinal Friday. The unbeaten Tigers (19-0) defeated Stearns of Millinocket 62-29.

Houlton outscored Woodland 22-11 in the fourth quarter, largely the result of a 12-2 rebounding dominance.

A free throw by Alyssa Foster gave the Shiretowners a 29-28 edge a minute into the period. When she missed her second try, Anna Lenentine grabbed the rebound and scored as Houlton embarked on a decisive 15-2 blitz.

Aimee Guy and Sewell each added 3-pointers during a run capped off by a Katherine Cole layup that gave Houlton a 43-30 lead with 2:39 left.

Houlton finished with a 36-18 rebounding advantage as Lenentine grabbed nine boards and Katherine Cole eight to lead the way.

“Rebounding killed us,” said Woodland coach Arnold Clark. “We go 5-9 and 5-7 up front, and they did a good job, but eventually we got worn down.”

Sewell led Houlton offensively with 17 points, while senior forward Claire Thompson added 15.

Woodland, the three-time defending Eastern Maine Class D champion, dominated the early stages of its first tournament game since moving up to Class C this season.

The Dragons used a 1-2-2 press to force 10 first-quarter turnovers, and senior guard Kaitlyn Leeman shredded Houlton’s triangle-and-two defense for 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field.

When teammate Nicole St. Pierre opened the second quarter with a baseline jumper, Woodland had its largest lead at 18-6 and Houlton was reeling.

“We all were really nervous, and we couldn’t shake it,” said Lenentine. “I was scared that this would be my last game.”

Houlton switched to a 2-3 zone that ground Woodland’s offense to a near-halt, and without making baskets the Dragons were unable to apply their press.

From there the game was Houlton’s to win.

The Shiretowners pulled within 22-17 by intermission thanks to 11 first-half points from Thompson and attacked the offensive backboards to outscore Woodland 7-2 over the final 4:33 of the third quarter to forge a 28-28 tie.

“We knew we had the capability of playing with them,” said Tweedie, “but we knew we had to get the nerves out of the way.”

In the first game, after getting pounded by a combined 93-point margin in two regular season losses to Dexter, Stearns coach Greg Friel thought he’d seen everything the Tigers could throw at opponents.

Then came the second half of Tuesday afternoon’s early game. The Tigers unveiled two zone defenses they rarely, if ever, use and turned a dicey 7-point halftime lead into a 20-point advantage at the end of the third quarter.

“We went zone trap, and we never do that. They’re great man-to-man players, so I knew they could play zone,” Dexter coach Margaret Veazie said of her players.

“We actually did two zones in the second half,” she added. “We played 1-3-1 trap, and we have a halfcourt 2-1-2 trap that we extended to fullcourt and did pretty well with it. I was really proud because it was a huge adjustment for us.”

The 14-6 Minutemen committed 18 turnovers to Dexter’s 10.

“The first half, we had a good plan for them and we got them out of their game,” Friel said. “The second half, they showed us that 1-3-1, and we just kind of choked on it. We play against it all the time, but we just kind of blanked when we saw it.

“I saw Margaret after and she said, ‘We don’t even play that,’ and I said, ‘I know … I know!’ That’s not something we expected because they hardly ever play zone.”

Junior center Ashley Ames led the way for the Tigers with 20 points and 12 rebounds – both game-highs – as Dexter outrebounded the Minutemen 15-3 on the offensive boards and 40-17 overall. Sophomore guard Sabrina Cote shot 5-for-6 from the field en route to 14 points.

The 6-foot-4 Ames and her 6-6 freshman sister Mallory Ames were too much for Stearns to handle.

Sophomore guard Hilary Arsenault led Stearns with seven points and Stearns’ only block.

SHIRETOWNERS 50, DRAGONS 39

Houlton (13-7) Woodland (15-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Guy 2 7 0 0 5 Brown 4 10 0 10

Foster 0 1 3 4 3 Gillespie 1 3

Thompson 5 11 5 12 15 J. Murphy 1 3

Cole 1 5 0 0 2 Leeman 7 12 4 19

Lenentine 4 13 0 0 8 Ferry 1 8 2

Sewell 7 12 1 1 17 St. Pierre 1 2

K. Murphy 0 1 0

Totals 19 49 9 17 50 Totals 15 42 11 39

Houlton 6 17 28 50

Woodland 16 22 28 39

3-pt. goals ? Houlton (3-8): Sewell 2-4, Guy 1-3, Lenentine 0-1; Woodland (4-8): Brown 2-2, Gillespie 1-1, Leeman 1-3, Ferry 0-2

TIGERS 62, MINUTEMEN 29

Stearns (14-6) Dexter (19-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

T.MacDonald 3 6 0 0 6 M.Ames 2 5 7

Nason 0 1 2 2 2 Veazie 1 5 4

D.Michaud 2 3 1 1 5 Chapman 0 1 1

Hale 0 0 0 0 0 Mountain 2 2 4

Leet 0 0 0 0 0 Burton 0 0 0 0

Arsenault 3 9 0 0 7 Fogarty 1 3 6

Achorn 0 1 0 0 0 Cote 5 6 14

Osborne 2 6 0 1 4 Hartford 1 2

D.Somers 1 2 0 0 3 Alton 0 0 0

Collinsworth 0 0 0 0 0 Patterson 1 4

J.Michaud 1 5 0 0 2 A.Ames 8 13 20

A.Somers 0 1 0 0 0

Totals 12 34 3 4 29 21 43 19 29 62

Stearns 7 14 16 29

Dexter 13 21 36 62

3-pt. goals ? Stearns (2-6): D. Somers 1-1, Arsenault 1-3, Osborne 0-1; Dexter (1-3): Veazie 1-3