BANGOR – The Houlton Shiretowners enjoy playing at a brisk pace to take advantage of their transition game.

Friday night, George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill made the top-seeded Shiretowners do a bit more running than they would have preferred.

Houlton scored only four points in the last five minutes but had enough of a lead to hold on for a 54-52 Eastern Maine Class C girls basketball semifinal victory over No. 5 GSA at the Bangor Auditorium.

Coach Shawn Graham’s Shires (19-1) battle No. 2 Lee Academy (17-3) in tonight’s 7:05 regional final. The teams split during the regular season.

It was a frantic, end-to-end pace throughout for Houlton and GSA, whose relentless defensive intensity resulted in a combined 58 turnovers. While the tempo may have been more to the Eagles’ liking, the Shiretowners executed slightly better at the offensive end.

GSA applied full-court, man-to-man pressure throughout, while Houlton used a 2-2-1 zone press and played mostly zone in the half-court.

“We knew that [GSA] came out like that and they like to play full-court,” said 6-foot-2 Houlton senior Rachel Foster, who scored a team-high 22 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked four shots. “We aren’t used to that, because we play teams that play the half-court game.”

Houlton led 50-41 with 6:21 left and opted to spread the floor, but it was forced to survive a final defensive onslaught by the Eagles.

“They’re a lot like us. Our styles are very similar,” Graham said.

“However, I felt we were very tired tonight. Eventually, our legs went.”

Maddi Park’s steal and layup with 2:04 left trimmed Houlton’s lead to 53-49, but the Shires eventually got a Lainey Herring foul shot with 1:06 to go. Sophomore Stevie Theoharidis countered for GSA, burying a clutch 3-pointer and making it a two-point game with 50 seconds to play.

“We had a nine-point lead, so I felt that if we could just protect the ball, make a few foul shots, then we’d be fine,” Graham said. “It got a little closer than we wanted because we did miss some key foul shots.”

Houlton then turned the ball over, giving GSA a final possession, but Theoharidis’ 17-footer missed with three seconds left.

“I just put kids on the wings and whoever opened up [would shoot],” Allen said. “It was a good look.”

Herring provided 11 points and 12 rebounds for Houlton, while Desiree Dow added eight points and Vanessa Sanderson six points and seven boards.

Park set the tone for GSA, pouring in 18 of her game-high 24 points in the first half. She also was a defensive sparkplug.

Alida Peake posted 10 points and eight rebounds for the Eagles, while India Frazier chipped in with six points and nine rebounds.

Houlton grabbed the lead for good with a 6-0 flurry late in the third quarter. Foster scored on an offensive rebound, Herring hit from underneath and Martha McPartland made a fast-break layup to give the Shires a 44-38 edge.

The Shires pushed the lead to nine points, but GSA continued to battle and kept it close.

The Eagles had difficulty containing Foster in the paint and on the boards, especially with senior center Katie Ahearn out with a knee injury.

The Shires held a tenuous 30-27 lead after a helter-skelter first 32 minutes. With both teams applying full-court pressure defense, the frantic pace resulted in a combined 32 turnovers – 18 by GSA.

pwarner@bangordailynews.net

990-8240

SHIRETOWNERS 54, EAGLES 52

Houlton (19-1) GSA (18-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Putnam 1 2 0 0 2 A. Peake 4 10

Bartlett 0 5 1 2 1 Davis 1 4 3

Dow 4 6 0 0 8 Mattson 0 0 0 0

Foster 9 14 4 10 22 Park 10 20 24

Sanderson 3 9 0 1 6 E. Peake 0 0

Herring 4 9 3 6 11 VanderEb 3 6

McPrtlnd 2 5 0 0 4 Brown 0 0 0

Frazier 3 16 0 6

Thohridis 1 8 3

Totals 23 50 8 19 54 Totals 22 63 52

George Stevens 12 27 39 52

Houlton 16 30 44 54

3-pt. goals – Houlton (0-4): Bartlett 0-2, Sanderson 0-1, McPartland 0-1; GSA (5-14): Park 3-10, A. Peake 1-3, Theoharidis 1-1