Houlton’s 18-Point Comeback in Presque Isle Falls Short; Recap

The Presque Isle Wildcats boys' team is off to a 6-2 start on the season and were hosting Aroostook County rival, the Houlton Shiretowners (3-3) on Tuesday. It was a Class B North matchup and wat the 101.9 The Rock game of the night.  

Houlton suffered a 1-point loss to Old Town on Saturday, while Presque Isle won on the road against Washington Academy. 

1st Quarter 

Presque Isle used a balanced offensive attack led by Xavier McAtee's 6 points in the opening quarter. Malachi Cummings and Jack Hallett each scored 4 points for the Wildcats. Brayden Castonguay and Jackson Maynard each had a three-point field goal for Presque Isle. Caleb Solomon led the Shires first quarter effort with 4 points, with Garrett Harvey and Cody Johnston each adding a basket. Presque Isle led 20-9 after the first. 

2nd Quarter 

Cummings found his way to the rim with relative ease in the second quarter, scoring 8 points for the Wildcats. McAtee added another 6 points to help take Presque Isle into halftime with a 41-23 lead. Solomon scored 7 points in the second, for Houlton.  

3rd Quarter 

Houlton looked like a completely different team on both ends of the floor throughout the entire second half of the game. The Shires defense stifled the Wildcats offense in the third quarter, as Houlton outscored Presque Isle 29-10 in the quarter. Houlton would take a 52-51 lead into the final quarter. Johnston led the Shires in the quarter with 8 points, while Isaiah Gentle scored 7 points, and Solomon and Isaiah Ervin each scored 6 points.  

4th Quarter 

Presque Isle retook the lead with just under 3:00 minutes to go in the game and never looked back. The Shires made a couple of late runs that fell short in the end. Cummings hit four free-throws and scored 8 points in the final quarter. He finished with 20 points on the night. McAtee led all scorers with 23 points for Presque Isle, who also got 9 points from Jack Hallett. Caleb Solomon had 23 points for Houlton, with Gentle adding 15 points and Johnston scoring 12 points. The final score Presque Isle 72-64 over Houlton.