St Joseph’s @ Husson

Cousins and former teammates to meet in college for the first time.

It’s a big day for two of Coach Cliff Urquhart’s former Southern Aroostook teammates. They will meet for the first time today in college.

Makaelyn Porter is one of the senior leaders for Husson, while her cousin Maddie is in her first year for the Monks. Maddie is making a quick adjustment and has been the first player off the bench and averaging over 20 minutes per game.

Makaelyn is the daughter of Jon and Jess Porter, while Maddie is the daughter of Brett and Kim Russell.

Expect to see plenty of family and friends to cheer on the two girls this afternoon at Husson.

Watch at 3 PM today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DInVihSaM8M

It will be very hard this week for many Aroostook County players and fans to go to Bangor and NOT think about @lgrass12

Libby left us way too early……… In her memory – Play hard like she always did. Give 100% effort all the time, like she did, and remember to have fun and SMILE – like Libby always did.

Good Luck to ALL the County Teams this week! Make some great memories!
#aroostookvarsitysports
#aroostookcountyhoops
#mesports
#centralaroostookpanthers

HOULTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED
GATORADE® MAINE GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

CHICAGO (March 19, 2018) — In its 33rd year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, today announced Kolleen Bouchard of Houlton High School as its 2017-18 Gatorade Maine Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Bouchard
is the first Gatorade Maine Girls Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Houlton High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Bouchard as Maine’s best high school girls basketball player.

Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award announced in March, Bouchard joins an elite alumni association of past state girls basketball award-winners, including Maya Moore (2005-06 Collins Hill HS, Ga.),Rashanda McCants (2004-05, Asheville HS, N.C.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Diana Taurasi (1998-99 & 1999-00, Don Antonio Lugo HS, Calif.), Shyra Ely (1999-00, Ben Davis HS, Ind.) and Lisa Leslie (1988-89, Morningside HS, Calif.).

The 6-foot senior point guard led the Shiretowners to a 21-1 record and the Class C state final this past season. Bouchard averaged 29.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 3.3 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 56 percent from the field and 88 percent from
the free-throw line. A four-year captain who was named the 2017-18 Miss Maine Basketball by the Maine Association of Basketball Coaches, Bouchard concluded her prep career with a school-record 2,046 points.

Bouchard is president of Houlton’s chapter of the National Honor Society and class valedictorian. She is also a trumpet player in the school band. She has volunteered locally at the Elks Hoop Shoot Free Throw Contest and has donated her time at youth soccer and basketball camps, Special Olympics events and as a mentor in an after-school program.

“I’ve never seen a girl dominate any more than Kolleen did this year,” said Wendell Harvey, head coach at Hodgdon High. “In my opinion, and I’ve seen a lot of good players
over a long period of time, but she’s just on another level. A lot of fun to watch.”
Bouchard has maintained a 97.09 average in the classroom. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Bentley University in Massachusetts beginning this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball,
softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process isadministered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media
advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Bouchard joins recent Gatorade Maine Girls Basketball Players of the Year Emily Esposito (2016-17, Gorham High School), Nia Irving (2015-16 & 2014-15, Lawrence High School), Allie Clement (2013-14 & 2012-13, Catherine McAuley High School), Meghan Gribbin
(2011-12, Windham High School), Niki Taylor (2010-11 & 2009-10, York High School), Morgan Frame (2008-09, Waterville High School), Rachael Mack (2007-08, Cony High School), and Ashley Cimino (2006–07, McAuley High School) among the state’s list of
former award winners.

As a Gatorade Player of the Year, Kolleen will be able to select a national or local youth sports organization to receive a grant as part of the Gatorade Play It Forward program. Every Gatorade Player of the Year state winner receives a $1,000 grant to donate and will have the opportunity to enter for an additional $10,000 spotlight grant by writing a brief essay explaining why their selected organization deserves additional support. 12 spotlight grants – one for each sport – will be announced throughout the year.

To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow the conversation on Twitter #GatoradePOY. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list
of past winners and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit http://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com/.

CONGRATULATIONS to Fort Kent Senior Cassidy Lovely on scoring her 1000th point last night.

She joins these girls from Fort Kent as 1000 point scorers

Stephanie Caron 1985

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina — Joseph Cyr is the Maine winner of the National Sports Media Association Sportswriter of the Year award.

Cyr, who serves as a news and sports reporter for the Houlton Pioneer Times, received the nod following a vote of the state’s members of the NSMA during the month of December 2017. He was notified two weeks ago and the award was made public Tuesday, Jan. 16.

“I am truly honored to received this prestigious award from the National Sports Media Association,” said Cyr, a first-time winner. “It is very humbling to be recognized in this manner. Covering local sports is a privilege that I do not take lightly.

“Over the past 25 years in the business, I have had a chance to work with some pretty amazing sports writers. I have always tried to learn from them and pass along that knowledge to those just starting out,” he added.

Cyr, a Houlton native, began his newspaper career at The Star-Herald in Presque Isle. After four years there, he worked for Courier Publications in Rockland for nearly 11 years and then for VillageNet Media, also based in Rockland, for another year. He then returned to Aroostook County and has been back with the Houlton Pioneer Times since 2009.

“Joe is a class act and is very deserving. He is very respectful and professional, and a great communicator,” said Shawn Graham, coach of the Houlton girls basketball team. “He puts a tremendous amount of time into our local sports teams as he is around the facilities days, nights and weekends.”

Cyr and the other state sportswriter and sportscaster winners, along with national winners and Hall of Fame inductees, will be honored during the 59th annual NSMA Awards Weekend, to be held June 23-25, 2018, in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Ernie Clark of the Bangor Daily News was the other Maine sportswriter who was a finalist for the award. Rich Kimball of Black Bear Sports Properties/Learfield in Orono won the state’s sportscaster honor. Rene Cloukey of WAGM-TV in Presque Isle was the other finalist.

“What makes this so special is that Joe is a general assignment reporter who covers everything from school board and council meetings to accidents and fires for Houlton and the surrounding communities,” said Senior Editor Rick Levasseur of Northeast Publishing, which produces the Houlton Pioneer Times. “Then he goes out of his way to photograph and write about sporting events, even when he has to do it on his own time because, he says, ‘That’s what our readers care about.’ Joe definitely deserves this honor.”

Northeast Publishing General Manager Andrew Birden said, “Joe has an astonishing drive to tell the story of the communities he serves in compelling style. When it comes to sports especially, Joe leads the way for journalists across the state.

“He makes capturing amazing images and telling the essence of sports stories look easy, when those of us with experience in the same field know that sports coverage is one of the most challenging branches of journalism,” Birden added.

Cyr and his wife, Charity, have two daughters — Isabel, 14, and Olivia, 11.

Sportscasters voted into the NSMA Hall of Fame during the latest balloting are Woody Durham of University of North Carolina Radio and Bryant Gumbel, who has worked for NBC, CBS, PBS and currently HBO. Sportswriters voted to the shrine are Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post and Dick Weiss of Blue Star Media, the Philadelphia Daily News and the New York Daily News.

The National Sportscaster of the Year is Kevin Harlan of CBS, Turner Sports and Westwood One, while Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Yahoo Sports claimed National Sportswriter of the Year honors.

Happy Birthday to Southern Aroostook Girls Coach Cliff Urquhart. If you don’t see him in a gym, there is a good chance you might catch him on the ice!

Houlton Girls at Presque Isle Wed. Night

Welcome to Aroostook County Hoops. You probably have already visited our Facebook Page. We will be attempting to do a few different things here, as we continue to positively promote those players who are and have been a part of Aroostook County Hoops.

Please keep checking back as we continue to develop this site