HOULTON – If you close your eyes, varsity basketball practice for Greater Houlton Christian Academy is pretty typical. Sneakers scream on the floor during running drills, whistles sound to change drills, and an end-of-the-season sneaker aroma fills the air.

Open your eyes, and it’s a slightly different story.

While the players dodge frost-heave cracks and missing tiles, the coach stands, whistle in hand, in front of a 300-gallon camouflaged water buffalo, used to hydrate the 152nd B-Battery Field Artillery Unit. The girls players sit in the family assistance room before it’s their turn to take the floor.

Welcome to the Houlton Armory, practice home of the Eagles.

With both teams eyeing next week’s playoffs, the girls finishing at 16-2 and the boys coming in at 13-5, court time is crucial. Unfortunately, drill weekend for the recently activated 152nd couldn’t have come at a worse time.

“They have drill this weekend, so we don’t even know where we are going to practice,” said third-year girls varsity coach Vaughn Farrar. “And we have a playoff game on Tuesday, and we don’t have a gym.”

But these kinds of bumps in the road are nothing new for Greater Houlton Christian Academy, which until three years ago, didn’t even have the Armory to use for practice.

Sgt. 1st Class Rob Greenier, a recruiter for the Maine Army National Guard, received a call asking about use of the armory from GHCA headmaster Mark Jago in 2002.

“I got the call from Mr. Jago looking for a place to practice, put a call into my bosses at Camp Keyes in Augusta, and the rest just fell into place,” said Greenier.

When the teams started practicing at the armory, the backboards were nothing more than solid white half moons.

“We did a bottle drive last year to raise money for brand new glass backboards,” said Farrar’s daughter, Lacey, her team’s lone senior.

“I put the word out we needed $2,500,” added athletic director and boys varsity coach Terry Cummings, “and by the next day we had $3,000.”

The search for land to construct a new gym has begun, but the teams know it’s not going to happen in the near future.

“There are plans in the works, hopefully within the next three, five years, being realistic,” said Cummings. “It’s kind of a Catch-22, because you feel like you’re shortchanging the kids, but they can’t miss something they’ve never had.”

Senior and 1,000-point scorer Emery Lincoln said it would be nice to have a home gym.

“You notice after a while you get pretty sick of traveling,” said Lincoln.

The girls program debuted just six years ago, with the boys following suit three years later.

Since Cummings’ arrival in 2002, the Eagles have made a temporary home at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, a 45-minute ride from Houlton, where they now play almost all of their home games.

According to Farrar, not having to play opposing teams twice on their home court has proven to be the difference between night and day.

“Playing at UMPI has been a gift,” said coach Farrar. “It’s helped our program, helped us mature, and helped our spirit.”

GHCA still plays two games at Katahdin High School in Stacyville, which, according to the players, has its ups and downs.

“Our fans follow us everywhere we go. We have the most fans at Katahdin, it’s always sold out,” said junior Amanda Livezey.

“My parents came all the way from Mars Hill and tried to get in,” said junior David Guiggey. “The ladies at the door turned them away and they had to sit out in the car in the parking lot and listen to the game.”

Despite the setbacks throughout the years, both the players and coaches praised the work of Greenier and the use of the dusty Armory.

“We have an armory ball that we’ve written all of our names and favorite Scripture verses on,” said junior Chelsie Lord. “We take it to every game and use it for warmups.”

Farrar added, “Rob’s been a godsend for us. It wouldn’t have happened without him here.”

And while Greenier, who travels to almost every game, leans on the doors to the gym, he says he’s just happy to work with the youth and bring the community into the building.

“They bring life to the Armory,” said Greenier. “At the end of the season, it’s going to be too quiet around here.”