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BANGOR – The 18-year run of semifinal appearances for the Calais girls basketball team is over, thanks to the late defensive plays of Houlton in Wednesday morning’s Eastern Maine Class C quarterfinal at the Bangor Auditorium.
The No. 5 Shiretowners got 12 points apiece from Rachel Foster and Danielle Sewell to upend the No. 4 Blue Devils 41-40, while Mallory Ames poured in 25 points as No. 1 Dexter rolled to a 57-40 victory over No. 8 George Stevens of Blue Hill in Wednesday’s second quarterfinal.
Houlton, now 14-5, will face the 18-1 defending regional champion Tigers in a semifinal Friday at 8:35 p.m.
Dexter is the only top four seed to survive the quarterfinals.
The Shiretowners were excited to get the win over Calais, which has won nine Eastern Maine Class C titles.
“It means so much,” Sewell said. “They’ve been in the finals for so many years, and we really wanted to beat them.”
Defense keyed Houlton all game. Their 2-3 zone helped limit Calais to 3-for-10 shooting in the first quarter, although the Blue Devils climbed back into it and cut Houlton’s lead to 18-15 at halftime.
The Shires normally play a 2-3 zone, Sewell said.
“We tried to clog up the inside and make them shoot,” she said. “The zone really worked for us. We just had to get out on their shooters because they got hot.”
The Shires were clinging to a 31-28 lead early in the fourth quarter, but an Ashley Allen jumper, followed by a Darcy Gillespie 3-pointer, gave Calais its first lead of the game.
Houlton responded with an 8-0 run and had a 41-37 edge when Gillespie drained her second 3-pointer with 1:17 left, but a few smart defensive plays made sure the Blue Devils didn’t score again.
Keegan Hovey had a steal with 21.9 seconds left, and with 10.4 remaining Victoria Rowe took a charge on a Calais offensive foul. The Blue Devils got the ball back with nine seconds to go, but a long upcourt pass to try for a layup fell into the hands of Foster, who held the ball as time expired.
“Turnovers hurt us all year and hurt us there at the end,” said 20-year Calais coach Bob McShane. “We had a chance to go ahead, but that’s the way it goes. … We were playing not to lose [early] and we started playing to win, but it was too late.”
Houlton overcame 7-for-19 shooting at the free-throw line.
Dexter also struggled to convert free throws, but the Tigers went 24-for-43 (55.8 percent) from the floor to more than compensate.
The 6-foot-6 Ames hit 12 of 15 shots and added five rebounds and three blocks.
“Our plan was to pretty much play them straight up,” George Stevens coach Don Allen said. “I figured everybody in the world had thrown some kind of gimmick at them, so they’ve seen it all. We just wanted to limit [other players’] touches. They went over the top of us better than I thought they would.”
Dexter’s Sabrina Cote added 16 points and eight rebounds.
The Tigers stuck with their regular man-to-man defense, making sure to keep their eyes on senior guards Christy Moon and Brandi Winters.
“We all had to play nice, tight defense,” Ames said. “I had to kind of sag down. Basically I stayed in the paint to help.”
Both GSA guards wound up on the bench with four fouls apiece in the third quarter. Moon finished with 10 points.
The Eagles got 11 points from Hannah Gray, but their shooting woes limited the rest of the lineup to 13-for-51 overall and 2-for-16 from 3-point range. They also had six turnovers in the third quarter.
“We had a real dry spell in the second and third quarters and they made a run on us,” Allen said. “We regrouped and did better.”
TIGERS 57, EAGLES 40
George Stevens (13-7) Dexter (18-1)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Eaton 0 2 2 2 2 Ames 12 15 25
Moon 5 11 0 0 10 Chmbrs 1 3 0 2
Olivari 0 0 0 0 0 Morales 0 0 0
Brdsworth 1 8 0 0 3 Mountain 0 0
Park 1 6 2 2 5 N. Burton 2 6 7
E. Peake 0 1 0 0 0 Cote 6 11 16
Freedman 0 1 0 0 0 L. Burton 0 0
Davis 0 0 0 0 0 Richrdsn 0 0
VanderErb 0 3 1 2 1 Poirier 3 6 6
Winters 2 6 0 0 4 Clukey 0 0 1
A. Peake 2 3 1 4 5
Gray 3 12 4 5 11
Totals 13 51 11 14 40 Totals 24 43 18 57
George Stevens 6 15 23 40
Dexter 19 28 39 57
3-pt. goals – George Stevens (2-16): Beardsworth 1-5, Park 1-5, A. Peake 0-1, Gray 0-1, Moon 0-2; Dexter (1-1): N. Burton 1-1
SHIRETOWNERS 41, BLUE DEVILS 40
Houlton (14-5) Calais (13-6)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Rowe 2 7 2 7 6 Hill 2 7 0 5
Bartlett 1 3 0 0 2 Graceffa 1 3
Foster 5 11 2 4 12 Cobb 0 0 0
Harbison 0 0 0 0 0 Thomas 2 2 4
Dow 1 3 0 0 2 Cross 0 0 0 0
Hovey 3 7 1 3 7 Taylor 0 0 0
Sewell 5 13 2 5 12 Clark 0 0 0
Butler 0 0 0 0 0 Allen 1 6 2
Mingo 3 5 2 8
Gillespie 3 10 9
Brown 3 5 0 6
Totals 17 44 7 19 41 Totals 16 45 40
Houlton 14 18 30 41
Calais 7 15 28 40
3-pt. goals – Houlton (0-4): Hovey 0-1, Sewell 0-4; Calais (4-15): Gillespie 2-7, Hill 1-2, Graceffa 1-5, Allen 0-1
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