CORINTH – Her scoring column in the box score won’t wow anyone, and two of her teammates had double-doubles, but make no mistake, her team’s victory Friday night wouldn’t have been possible without Danielle Sewell.

Sewell provided a big spark as Houlton won its second straight big game, 41-38 over the Central Red Devils in girls basketball action.

“If I’m struggling on offense, I try even harder on defense to get a steal or something,” said Sewell, who describes herself as being at “80 percent” in her comeback from an anterior cruciate ligament tear (knee) she suffered in a game against Central last year.

Sewell finished with only four points, but three came in the decisive final two minutes. The senior guard also had three rebounds to go with five steals and four assists – both game-highs.

“She’s really our floor general,” said head coach Shawn Graham, whose Shiretowners improved to 8-5. “She’s kind of what makes us go. She runs the offense, doesn’t turn the ball over, and anticipates real well on defense.”

Houlton’s “general” got big contributions from her troops. Sophomore center Rachel Foster led the team with 15 points, 15 rebounds, and four blocked shots, and junior guard Keegan Hovey finished with 11 rebounds and 10 points.

“You could see they were stronger than us in the paint at halftime, but we overcame that,” said Foster, who became a defensive key as well as the “center fielder” in Houlton’s offensive scheme against Central’s intense man-to-man, half-court trap and full-court press defenses.

“We see some pretty good pressure every single night, so we’ve gotten used to it,” Foster added. “It’s good we’ve played such a tough schedule because it’s toughened us up, but it makes games like this more vital for us to win.”

It showed during crunch time as Houlton took a page from Central’s defensive playbook.

After Sewell hit one of two foul shots to make it 38-35 Shires with 1:53 left, Houlton stuffed Central on the next two possessions (a Central miss on a jumper and then a Sewell steal). Sewell drew a foul, but Houlton’s defense stiffened again and Central missed a 3-pointer plus the ensuing offensive rebound.

Hovey missed another 1-and-1, but Central’s drought continued on the other end. The overall scoring drought ended when Foster hit one of two free throws with 27 seconds left.

Central’s Caitlin Elliott hit one of two on the other end 14 seconds later, but Sewell was fouled with eight seconds left and hit both shots to make it 41-36 and virtually ice the game.

Elliott wound up with 20 points and 15 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as no other Central teammate mustered more than six points.

Sophomore forward Kim LeBlanc came off the Devils bench for six points and five rebounds – all in the second half. Central is now 10-5 on the season.

“Even though we just beat the number one team [Stearns], we still needed this game and a couple more,” said Sewell. “So this was a very important game for us.”

Neither team shot particularly well from the field (Houlton beat Central 31.3 percent to 27.1). Central outrebounded Houlton 44-37 but committed 20 turnovers to the Shires’ 16.

SHIRETOWNERS 41, RED DEVILS 38

Houlton (8-5) Central (10-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Rowe 2 4 2 2 6 Collins 2 4 0 4

Bartlett 2 6 0 2 4 Davis 0 5 0

Foster 6 16 3 6 15 Elliott 8 19 20

Harbison 0 0 0 0 0 Brownell 0 1

Dow 1 2 0 0 2 Trafton 0 4 0 0

Hovey 5 13 0 3 10 Underhill 2 11 1 2 5

Sewell 0 10 4 7 4 LeBlanc 3 7 6

Butler 0 0 0 0 0 Melton 0 0 0

Libby 1 7 0 2

Totals 16 51 9 20 41 Totals 16 59 11 38

Houlton 6 17 28 41

Central 8 13 25 38

3-pt. goals – Houlton (0-3): Sewell 0-1, Bartlett 0-2; Central (0-4): Underhill 0-1, Trafton 0-1, Elliott 0-1, Davis 0-1

JV: Central 25-20

Attendance: 250 (est.)