In a worthy sequel to its rally for the ages over its archrival in last year’s Eastern Class A tournament, EL battled back from a nine-point deficit in the second half Thursday night and knocked off Lewiston, 54-50, before the largest and loudest crowd to see a game at the LHS gym in more than a decade.

EL (16-2) will enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed after ending the game on a 12-2 run. Lewiston (13-5) is No. 4 and will face Bangor in the quarterfinals after bidding farewell to its nine-game winning streak.

“I’ve only lost once to Lewiston in four years,” EL senior Sean Ford said. “We always want to beat them, and it helps with momentum going into the tournament and all that.”

Ford finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. He was 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

Quin Leary overcame first-half foul trouble and concluded with 15 points. Lew Jensen added nine points on three 3-pointers, and Jensen and Nate Alexander each matched Ford with 10 boards.

Josh Thomas paced Lewiston with 12 points. Abdi Hussein chipped in 10. Lewiston lost 68-63 in the previous meeting at EL.

“This is the game they’ll be talking about. That’s how it is,” Lewiston coach Tim Farrar said. “We didn’t get them this year, by a total of nine points.”

Lewiston led 39-30 after two baskets by Hussein, the second a 3-pointer, with 3:13 left in the third quarter. Those hoops came just after Blue Devils sparkplug Donne Agossou was helped from the court with what appeared to be a significant knee injury.

Jensen answered Hussein with a 3-pointer from the left wing, and Ford fed Leary for a short drive to cut the deficit back to four.

EL had four assists in the third quarter after producing only three in a first half that ended with the Red Eddies in a 30-24 hole.

“We’re nowhere near what we should be offensively. We don’t look for each other. We don’t move the ball,” EL coach Mike Adams said. “They’re all good players. After a couple of times down the floor it’s like, ‘I haven’t touched the ball in a while. I’ve got to get my shot.’ If they just move the ball they’re all going to get their shots.”

Steven Patrie scored Lewiston’s last points of the period down low. Ford nailed a 3-pointer and a free throw in the final minute to make it 41-39.

EL was 18-for-32 from the line overall and was whistled for only one foul in the second half.

“We had a lot of lapses on offense, not moving the ball,” Leary said. “We knew we had to be a lot better with that and I think we were, along with rebounding the ball.”

Lewiston twice restored its lead to six in the fourth quarter, the latter on Adam Poliquin’s drive for a 48-42 cushion with 4:51 remaining.

The Devils had only one more field goal, a lunging 10-footer by Thomas with 2:31 to play. Lewiston was 4-for-20 from the field in the fourth.

“Things changed. They made some plays. We couldn’t hit a shot,” Farrar said. “We were rushing a little bit. We had a couple of pretty good looks. I thought we kept our composure and were hoping the shots would start to fall.”

Mahad Mohamed hit Leary on a drive-and-dish to start the final EL comeback. Four straight free throws from Ford and Leary in a 22-second span tied it.

Ford hit another freebie for the lead with 2:55 left. Thomas’ bucket took it back, but Kaleb Main’s only two points of the night retrieved it for the Red Eddies for good.

“We were missing free throws, but it was good we were getting to the line. That helped us,” Ford said. “We usually move the ball better. We didn’t play very well on offense.”

Thomas had eight points in his customary role off the bench to lead Lewiston in the first half. The Blue Devils rose from an 0-for-10 drought out of the gate.

Isaiah Harris also had five first-half points and Ace Curry a huge 3-pointer in reserve roles. The Blue Devils’ bench outscored the Red Eddies 22-2 overall.

EL played without point guard Ian Mileikis, who is out due to illness.

“They kicked our butt pretty good this summer,” Adams said. “There was a lot of testosterone out there.”

koakes@sunjournal.com

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