BANGOR, Maine — When Chris Woodside took over as the Calais High School boys basketball coach, he made one thing clear from the outset.
The Blue Devils were going to be in outstanding physical condition.
“We run a lot,” said senior guard Kyle Johnson. “We don’t like it, but we know it’s these games [in the tournament] where it’s going to pay off, and it did.”
Despite using only seven players, Calais ran, pressed, trapped and scrambled its way to the Eastern Maine Class C championship, outlasting Orono 60-57 in overtime at the Cross Insurance Center.
“They only know one speed,” said Orono coach Jason Coleman, whose squad committed 25 turnovers in the face of the Blue Devils’ relentless defensive pressure.
The Red Riots also relied heavily on only six or seven players.
“We try to have a fast-paced game because our legs are good. We try to tire them out,” said Calais senior guard Andre Paul, who was often on the front line of the defensive effort.
Woodside recognized early on that his players had an uncanny level of fitness and intensity upon which they could build.
“What makes us special is we’re thoroughbred horses and we can run and we’re going to be in shape,” he said. “There were many practices when they didn’t love me because we did a lot of running, but this is where it paid off.”
Woodside admitted that Calais rode its proverbial horses pretty hard.
Seniors Tyler Niles, Nathan Newell, Johnson and Paul, along with sophomore Travon Rhodes and freshman Zach Lola, logged the vast majority of the minutes. Freshman Matt Perkins also chipped in on Saturday night.
“We do have some guys that can go in with Zach and Matt. I really didn’t give them a whole lot of opportunities because I believe when you get to the races, you go with the horses that brought you,” Woodside said.
Houlton title years in the making
One could not help but appreciate the level of talent and tournament poise demonstrated by the Houlton girls basketball team during the Eastern Maine tournament.
Coach Shawn Graham’s team not only features a freshman as its centerpiece, the Shiretowners took home the Class C crown without a single senior on the roster.
Freshman Kolleen Bouchard served as the glue for a well-rounded Houlton team that won the championship with a 46-38 victory over a senior-laden Dexter squad on Saturday night at the Cross Insurance Center.
Her calm on the court speaks to the level of confidence and cohesiveness that has been the foundation of the team’s success.
Houlton received key contributions from junior tri-captains Katie Condon, Chelsea Gentle and Natalie Hill, along with sophomores Rylee Warman and Makala Watson and freshman Aspen Flewelling.
“Since third and fourth grade, they’ve played so much basketball together and they’ve had a lot of success,” said Graham, who credited Houlton’s feeder system with developing this particular group of players.
“It’s a credit to a lot of the parents, and we’ve got multiple parents that are coaches,” Graham said of assistant coach Ben Drew, Houlton High Principal Marty Bouchard and Warman’s father, Clyde Warman, who was previously the coach at Greater Houlton Christian Academy.
The Shiretowners also benefitted from the addition of former GHCA players Rylee Warman and Watson.
Despite the disparity in age between Bouchard and her junior teammates, they have played together since their elementary school days.
“When Kolleen was in second grade, she played up on the third and fourth grade, and when she was in fourth, she played up on the fifth and sixth grade,” Graham said.
“They all just mesh really well,” he added.