PARIS — On the road. Down 17 points. Knee-deep in fouls. Turnover prone. Unable to make a shot from any range to save its life.
We could go on, but Edward Little coach Mike Adams might replay Friday’s first quarter-and-a-half while tossing and turning the next few nights, as it is.
“It was my worst nightmare the first quarter,” Adams said. “I was thinking we can’t overcome that. We were in such a funk.”
Nothing went right. And then, for the rest of the evening, with explosive Andrew Middleton and Lew Jensen in supreme control, almost nothing went wrong in the Red Eddies’ 72-50 boys’ basketball win over Oxford Hills.
EL trailed 28-11 with five minutes remaining in the first half of the mutual Eastern Class A and KVAC season opener. It was 61-22 the rest of the way, beginning with a 33-7 run.
Middleton, a 6-foot-6 senior transfer from Leavitt, was sensational, scoring 17 of his game-high 30 points in the second quarter to ignite the comeback. Jensen, a 6-5 junior and the Eddies’ lone returning starter, had 10 of his 17 in the third to go with 12 rebounds and four steals.
“I was feeling good,” Middleton said. “It’s different here. The energy from the bench motivated me, and I could definitely feel it in the game.”
Andrew Fleming scored 23 points to pace the Vikings, who were undone by foul trouble that went both ways but afflicted Oxford Hills’ starters more profoundly.
Oxford Hills was 8-for-33 from the field after the first quarter and committed 24 turnovers, overall.
“They got to the rim and we didn’t,” Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam said. “They shot foul shots better than we did, and once that momentum shifted we had a hard time getting it back.”
EL still had only two field goals in the game when Middleton drained four straight free throws and cut the Eddies’ deficit to 28-15.
Jensen, nearly shut out to that point, finally broke free for a bucket underneath.
The Eddies adapted to the frequent whistles, pounding the ball inside to draw contact. It forced the Vikings to their bench and ultimately created space downtown for Middleton.
“We kind of had to weather their storm. They came out firing, and as soon as we got past that and adjusted and settled down, we did what we had to do to win,” Jensen said.
Getting the ball to Middleton was a good start. He hit a pull-up jumper from the left elbow with 2:24 left to get EL within seven.
Fleming answered with a pair of free throws, but Oxford Hills left Middleton open on back-to-back trips down the floor and paid the price of two 3-pointers.
“It’s definitely nice having both of us, because one of us is bound to be hot,” Jensen said.
Middleton made two more free throws for a 32-29 halftime deficit.
Then, out of the locker room. it was Jensen’s turn. After Kaleb Main connected inside, a Jensen rainbow from the right corner gave EL its first lead at 34-32.
Luke Sterling, making his first varsity start at point guard, lobbed the ball inside to Jensen for two on the Eddies’ next journey.
Elijah Roe’s free throw and buckets by Sterling and Jensen — the latter under heavy surveillance in the paint — made it 44-35. The Vikings never again got closer than six.
“We just started hitting shots and stopping them,” Middleton said. “Playing ‘D’ straight up and trying not to foul as much.”
Luke Davidson added 11 points for Oxford Hills, which was without point guard Matt Beauchesne for significant stretches of the game due to foul difficulties.
“They have two very good players in Middleton and Jensen, and they didn’t get in foul trouble. I’m not saying that’s the reason we lost,” Graffam said. “Obviously Middleton showed why he’s so good.”
Fleming had 10 points in the first quarter, when the Vikings erupted to leads of 5-0, 9-1 and ultimately 20-7.
The Vikings harassed the Eddies into 10 first-quarter turnovers and 1-for-8 shooting.
Middleton had all but one of EL’s field goals at the half before the gates opened. Main and Sterling each provided six points and Sterling dished out five assists for EL, which lost starting guard Ian Mileikis to a broken foot at the end of football season.
Despite all the new faces, EL’s chemistry looked just fine, thank you.
“Playing pickup basketball after school and during the summer really helped,” Middleton said. “We also played fall ball and got closer and everything.”
“We’re definitely very happy to walk out of here. I did not want to start with a loss, and I was scared to death of this game,” Adams said. “I was scared to death of their pressure, but we handled it.”
koakes@sunjournal.com
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