EAST MILLINOCKET – Josh Beals scored 18 points and Houlton played stingy defense Thursday night while posting a 48-41 boys basketball victory over Schenck.

James Bates had nine points for the Shiretowners.

Lanny Thompson paced the Wolverines with 10 points while Mike Lowell and Aaron Hutchins added nine points apiece.

Houlton (7-5) 48

Beals 8-2-18, Bates 3-3-9, Brown 1-1-3, Austin 1-2-4, Hill 2-1-5, Carmichael 2-1-5, McGuire

Schenck (10-3) 41

Thompson 2-6-10, Lewis 3-0-6, Waite 1-0-2, Lowell 2-4-9, McLaughlin 2-1-5, Hutchins 2-3-9, MacCafferty, Theriault, LeVasseur

3-pt. goals: Hutchins 2, Lowell

Houlton 11 25 37 48

Schenck 8 12 24 41

JV: Schenck 51-42

Katahdin 56, Fort Fairfield 49

At Stacyville, Tom Anderson scored 15 points to push Katahdin past Fort Fairfield.

Lucas Craig had 12 points for the Cougars. Evan McCarthy scored 11 points and Josh Guiggey added 10 points.

Matt Cresenzo led Fort Fairfield with a game-high 28 points.

Fort Fairfield (7-6) 49

Edgecomb 1-1-3, Noyes 1-0-2, Forsman 1-0-2, Cresenzo 10-7-28, Booth 1-0-3, Sharpe 2-2-6, Dufour 2-1-5, Closson, McNamee

Katahdin (4-8) 56

Anderson 7-1-15, Craig 4-4-12, Guiggey 5-0-10, Rodgerson 1-2-4, Qualey 2-0-4, McCarthy 4-1-11, Davis

3-pt. goals: Cresenzo, Booth; McCarthy 2

Fort Fairfield 10 26 36 49

Katahdin 23 29 41 56

JV: Fort Fairfield 54-50

Shead 65, East Grand 36

At Eastport, Tyler Mitchell scored 19 points to lead Shead to victory over East Grand of Danforth.

Caleb Ricker added 10 points for the Tigers.

Tyler Morse paced East Grand with 13 points and Kaleb Dicker added 11 points.

East Grand (3-9) 36

Morse 5-0-13, Dicker 4-0-11, Langill 3-0-6, Cropley 1-0-3, Henn 1-0-2, H. Brittain 0-1-1, Gilman, A. Brittain, Bartlett, Nichols, Kenyon

Shead (7-4) 65

T. Mitchell 7-5-19, Ricker 5-0-10, Vinson 3-3-9, D. Mitchell 3-2-8, Andrews 3-0-6, Lewey 3-0-6, Pottle 1-2-4, Barnes 1-1-3

3-pt. goals: Morse 3, Dicker 3, Cropley

East Grand 3 15 27 36

Shead 24 33 48 65

Erskine Acad. 63, Belfast 53

At Belfast, Brent Merrill tallied 18 points to propel the Eagles of South China to victory.

Jack Garrity and Peter Garrity scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Marcus Benjamin paced Belfast with 16 points, while Jim Davis netted 12 and Jack Davis 10.

Erskine Acad. (7-6) 63

Grady 0-3-3, Harvey, Veilleux 2-0-6, Ballantyne 2-0-4, P. Garrity 5-0-10, J. Garrity 2-7-12, Corbin 2-0-4, Merrill 5-4-18, Holt 3-0-6

Belfast (6-6) 53

Arthers, Benjamin 6-2-16, Philbrook 0-2-2, Martens 1-2-5, Ja. Davis 5-0-10, Felton, Leeman, Murphy 3-2-8, Ji. Davis 5-2-12

3-pt. goals: Veilleux 2, Ja. Garrity, Merrill 4; Benjamin 2, Martens

Erskine 11 26 44 63

Belfast 12 21 35 53

JV: Erskine Acad. 64-45

Washington Acad. 54, Sumner 33

At East Machias, Ben Teer and Joey Hunter each scored 10 points to lift Washington Academy over Sumner of East Sullivan.

Rob Smith had nine points for the Raiders.

Justin Brenton scored 10 points to lead Sumner.

Sumner (3-8) 33

Ingalls 1-0-2, Rolfe 3-0-6, Leighton 1-1-4, D. Johnson 2-0-4, Huber 3-1-7, Brenton 5-0-10, B. Johnson, Ulrich, Boyle, Sargent, Bell, Weaver

Washington Academy (7-3) 54

Von Rotz 4-0-8, Teer 4-1-10, R. Smith 3-0-9, Hunter 5-0-10, M. Smith 4-0-8, Morren 1-0-3, Nicely 2-0-4, Porter 1-0-2, Gautier, Beach, Colbeth, Lehman, Lyons, Lenfesty, Stevens

3-pt. goals: Leighton; R. Smith 3, Teer, Morren

Sumner 6 16 25 33

Wash. Acad. 7 22 39 54

JV: Washington Acad. 72-57

Mattanawcook 76, Lee 61

At Lincoln, Derek Libbey scored a season-high 27 points to lead Mattanawcook Academy to victory over Lee Academy.

Brady Vose scored 25 points for the Lynx.

Libbey and Vose combined to shoot 22-of-28 from the free-throw line.

Hakeem Rodriguez scored 24 points for Lee Academy and Devan Parker had 12 points.

Lee Acad. (8-2) 61

Rodriguez 10-3-24, Parker 5-2-12, Bingham 3-1-9, MacDonald 1-2-5, Doty 2-0-4, Medina 3-1-7, Harris, Stevens, Norris, Beers

Mattanawcook Acad. (9-2) 76

Libbey 7-11-27, Vose 7-11-25, Langevin 4-3-11, Campbell 0-1-1, Smith 1-1-3, White 3-0-6, Bernier 1-1-3, Cahill, Laird, Hanington, McKinnon, Hanscom

3-pt. goals: Bingham 2, Rodriguez, MacDonald; Libbey 2

Lee Acad. 20 32 42 61

Mattanawcook 20 39 61 76

JV: Mattanawcook 56-47

Dexter 56, Penquis 35

At Dexter, Gavin Cote scored 17 points to lift Dexter over Penquis of Milo.

Ethan Woodman had 11 points for the Tigers and Nathan Peirce scored 10 points.

Brian Zwicker led Penquis with 12 points.

Penquis (0-11) 35

Foss 1-0-3, Larson 2-2-6, Zwicker 6-0-12, Arefein 1-0-2, Leland 2-0-4, Stanley 2-0-4, Andrews 2-0-4, Delano, McLaughlin, Brown, Bailey, Larabee, Artes

Dexter (8-2) 56

Woodman 4-0-11, Lary 1-0-2, Stewart 3-2-8, Clark 1-0-2, Peirce 4-1-10, Mountain 2-0-4, Eastman 1-0-2, Cote 5-7-17, Chambers, Jewett, Trivette

3-pt. goals: Foss; Woodman 3, Peirce

Penquis 6 21 25 35

Dexter 12 19 41 56

Orono 68, Penobscot Valley 61

At Orono, Seth Dwyer and Joel Riemersma sank pivotal free throws down the stretch as the Red Riots held off a gritty Penobscot Valley of Howland squad that playing without top scorer Chad Trapier, who is out with a back injury.

Coach Ben Goodwin’s Red Riots (8-3) took the lead for good with just over three minutes to play on a Lee Hecker basket, then Dwyer gave them a five-point cushion with a pull-up 3-pointer from the left wing with 3:00 left.

After Aaron Awalt’s 3 on the 5-8 Howlers’ next possession brought Dave Cullen’s club back to within two at 61-59, the Riots’ pressuring defense held PVHS to just one field goal the rest of the way while hitting five of six from the line in the final two minutes.

Dwyer finished with 17 points for Orono, J Spencer netted 12 and A.J. Coleman added 11. Hecker grabbed seven rebounds to go with his nine points.

Awalt led all scorers with 25 points on 11-of-26 shooting while hauling down eight boards for the Howlers. Adam Callender chipped in 13 points.

Girls basketball

Shead 77, East Grand 14

At Eastport, Robyn Stuart had 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead Shead past East Grand of Danforth.

Dorothy Pottle added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Tigerettes. Hannah Currier made a career-high six 3-pointers for 18 points and Whitney Vinson recorded 12 rebounds.

Kelsey Daoust led East Grand with seven points.

East Grand (3-9) 14

Daoust 2-3-7, Roy 1-0-2, Lloyd 1-3-5, Beaudoin, Hanington, Gilman, Bartlett, Tuck

Shead (5-7) 77

Doten 2-0-6, Barnes 3-0-6, Pottle 7-4-18, Stuart 8-1-17, McPhail 2-0-4, Vinson 4-0-8, Currier 6-0-18, Patterson

3-pt. goals: Currier 6, Doten 2

East Grand 3 6 10 14

Shead 18 36 56 77

John Bapst 42, Old Town 28

At the Bangor Auditorium, the Crusaders held the Coyotes to 13 first-half points and Hillary Laferriere poured in 23 points as John Bapst moved to 13-1 with the win over Old Town.

Laferriere was scoreless in the first quarter, after which the Coyotes (7-5) had an 11-7 lead, but the senior forward put in 11 points during the Crusaders’ 13-0 run for almost five minutes of the second quarter. She also pulled down seven rebounds in the second period and finished with 13.

Brianna Hardy came off the bench to grab four rebounds during the second-quarter stretch, and Morgan Chasse scored four of her eight points in the second.

Rebecca Taylor led Old Town with nine points. The 5-foot-11 center-forward went 2-for-2 from 3-point range.

Penquis 54, Dexter 29

At Dexter, Erica Lyford scored 26 points to lead Penquis of Milo past the Tigers.

Megan Royal scored 16 for the Patriots.

Miranda Gove and Michelle Chapman each had seven points for Dexter.

Penquis (3-7) 54

Lyford 13-0-26, Royal 5-3-16, Chapman 1-0-2, Ottman 0-1-1, Carey 1-0-3, Zambrano 1-0-2, Bess 1-0-2, Weston 1-0-2, McLaughlin

Dexter (3-7) 29

Gove 3-1-7, Chapman 3-1-7, Mountain 1-0-2, Murray 2-1-5, Richardson 1-1-3, Atwater 1-0-2, Lancaster 1-1-3, Wyman, Patterson

3-pt. goals: Royal 3, Carey

Penquis 7 20 37 54

Dexter 7 13 19 29

Piscataquis 45, Foxcroft 42 (OT)

At Guilford, Jill Martell scored six of her 18 points in overtime to lift Piscataquis over Foxcroft Academy.

Piscataquis didn’t lead until overtime.

Christine Davis scored 14 points for the Pirates.

Tiffany Lougee led Foxcroft Academy with 15 points and Vanessa Lougee added 11 points.

Foxcroft Acad. (5-7) 42

Sharrow 3-1-7, Withee 1-2-4, Brown 1-1-3, Flanders 1-0-2, V. Lougee 4-3-11, T. Lougee 7-1-15, Boss, Keene

Piscataquis (6-5) 45

Davis 5-2-14, M. Martell 1-2-5, J. Martell 6-5-18, Morrill 2-1-5, Izbicki 0-3-3, Laweryson, Bravi

3-pt. goals: Davis 2, M. Martell, J. Martell

Foxcroft 6 16 29 37 42

Piscataquis 3 14 24 37 45