LEE – Hakeem Rodriguez scored just two points Saturday during the second half of Lee Academy’s 65-53 Class C boys basketball victory over Houlton at Mallett Gymnasium.

But the junior guard’s game was much more than his personal offense, for it takes much more than that to amass the kind of numbers he had – those of the triple-double variety.

Rodriguez finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Pandas to their seventh straight victory – and second over the Shiretowners – since a six-point opening-night loss to two-time defending state champion Calais.

“He’s very talented,” said Houlton coach Mike Fogarty. “Obviously you can see that he’s played a lot of basketball, but he sees the court probably two passes ahead of most of the kids that we see. He’s very smart, so he draws the defense to him and then dishes very well.”

Rodriguez was one of three Lee players to score and rebound in double figures, joined by Luis Medina (15 points, 13 rebounds) and Devan Parker (11 points, 10 rebounds). Lee finished with a 55-28 advantage on the backboards.

“We’re just very athletic and we box out and go for it,” said Parker. “We like to [box] our man out and get the rebound because if not they get another shot opportunity and that enables them to score.”

That athleticism and team quickness also paid off on defense, as Lee’s man-to-man approach limited Houlton to a 32 percent effort (20 of 62) from the field.

“We didn’t shoot well at all today,” said Fogarty. “We had some good looks but we were taking the first open jumper, and we know better than that. We need to swing the ball and get the defense moving and then break them down. We just got a little out of sync today.”

Three Shiretowners combined for 46 of their 53 points, as James Bates scored 19 points, Josh Beals had 14 points and nine rebounds and Ryan Hill had 13 points and six rebounds.

Houlton (5-5) used a zone defense and some offensive patience to control the tempo of the first half, but still trailed 27-19 at the break. The Shiretowners missed the few inside shots they got and Lee dominated the rebounding action.

“Usually in our games we’ve been pushing the ball right steady and getting uncontested layups,” said Parker. “They took their time on offense and that threw us off our rhythm for a while, but we stayed with it.”

The Shiretowners also could do little to contain Rodriguez early, as he worked along the baseline until his teammates could get him the ball with the option to pass or shoot. And when someone else shot, Rodriguez, Medina and Parker attacked the glass.

By halftime, the 6-foot-1 Rodriguez had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists.

“On the baseline I’m just trying to look for the cutters to get all my teammates involved,” he said.

Lee broke the game open early in the second half, with 3-pointers by Medina, Dean MacDonald and Parker sparking an 11-2 run that extended the Pandas’ lead to 38-21 four minutes into the third quarter. Lee’s first four baskets of the period all were set up by Rodriguez assists.

“We have kids who can create shots for themselves, but I’ve coached for 24 years and this is by far the most unselfish team I’ve ever coached,” said Lee coach Randy Harris. “It doesn’t make a difference if our 12th man is in and our leading scorer is in, if our 12th man is open they give him the ball and nobody’s worried about their stats. They just want to put W’s on the board.”

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

PANDAS 65, SHIRETOWNERS 53

Houlton (5-5) Lee Academy (7-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Brown 0 7 0 0 0 Rodrigez 7 20 3 4 17

Bragan 1 2 0 0 2 Guido 0 0 0

Austin 0 4 0 1 0 Bingham 1 4 4

Longstaff 1 2 0 0 3 Harris 1 5 4

Bates 8 14 1 2 19 Parker 4 8 11

Hill 4 14 4 7 13 Stevens 0 1 4 4

Woodwrth 0 0 0 0 0 MacDnald 1 3

Beals 5 12 4 5 14 Norris 0 0 0

Carmichel 0 5 0 0 0 Doty 0 1 0

Flewelling 0 0 0 0 0 Medina 5 11 15

Gervais 1 2 0 0 2 Beers 2 5 5

McGuire 0 0 0 0 0 Burrill 0 0 2

Totals 20 62 9 15 53 Totals 21 58 17 28 65

Houlton 13 19 27 53

Lee Academy 13 27 45 65

3-pt. goals – Houlton (4-13): Bates 2-4, Hill 1-1, Longstaff 1-2, Austin 0-1, Brown 0-2, Beals 0-3; Lee Academy (6-16): Medina 3-6, Parker 1-2, MacDonald 1-3, Bingham 1-3, Rodriguez 0-2

JV: Lee Academy 52-42

Attendance: 225 (est.)