AUBURN — With the game tied after three Saturday night, the final quarter became an eight-minute audition for clutch performers.
It was the Edward Little girls’ basketball team that had some.
The Red Eddies opened the lead early in the fourth quarter and held off Oxford Hills in a season-opening 44-38 win between two KVAC rivals.
The Vikings and Red Eddies are expected to be battle for playoff positioning in Eastern A this winter. So Saturday’s opening tilt had some immediate significance.
“This is a team that’s going to win a lot of games,” said EL coach Craig Jipson of the Vikings. “That’s a team that will win 12, 13 or 14 games. So down the road, this is worth a lot of Heal Points.”
It was EL’s defensive play that helped the Red Eddies open the lead. EL got a number of key plays from various defenders in the final quarter as the Red Eddies built a seven-point lead.
“We had some great steals,” said Jipson. “Calli Murray plays with so much heart and desire. Brooke Reynolds had a really huge steal. Molly Murray hit a big shot. Kory (Norcross) was real smart down the stretch.”
EL shot 4-for-7 in the fourth and forced seven turnovers. The Vikings struggled at times, finishing 3-for-13 in the final quarter.
“I think that’s how the whole year is going to be,” said Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier. “Every game you go into you’ve got to be able to win down the stretch. We’re learning. We have the ability to. Sometimes we freak out a little bit with the pressure, and EL puts a lot of pressure on when they want to.”
Tianna Harriman led EL with 14 points, including three 3’s. Emily Jacques added nine while Molly Murray had six. Oxford Hills got a fine outing from Anna Winslow with 19. Erin Mortin chipped in nine off the bench with a trio of 3’s.
With the game tied 31-31 entering the fourth, EL got a quick surge and built a lead. Oxford Hills was trying to catch them the rest of the way.
“When you get down real quick in the fourth and that’s the point we were struggling to score, it was going to be tough to pick up,” said Pelletier, who was also missing two regulars to start the season. “Then they made some foul shots down the stretch.”
Molly Murray hit a corner jumper to open the fourth. Jacques sank a free throw soon thereafter and EL had a quick 34-31 lead.
“That was huge,” said Jipson. “Once we got up by seven, we were able to hold it. Down the stretch, we hit some free throws.”
Oxford Hills got within one on a Claire Gregory rebound, then Jacques hit a free throw and Calli Murray hit a jumper to make it 37-33. That basket came after a Harriman rebound on a missed free throw.
The Vikings got within two on a Winslow basket with 4:55 left, but Oxford Hills didn’t score again until a Morton 3 with 1:15 left.
Jacques had a nice steal for a basket with 3:09 left. Then Harriman had a steal that was turned into a three-point play at 42-35 lead with 2:19 left. EL also got a key steal from Reynolds during that stretch and a nice block by Harriman during a defensive stand that blanked the Vikings.
“We kind of threw the ball around a little bit in the end when we didn’t need to,” said Pelletier.
Though Morton got the Vikings within 42-38 late, Norcross sank a pair of free throws to seal it.
Oxford Hills had the lead through the first quarter but traded it with EL in the second. EL was up 23-21 at the half.
EL built a 31-27 lead in the third after baskets by Norcross and a 3 by Molly Murray. The Vikings had started the third hitting just one of its first 12 shots. Oxford Hills closed the gap late in the third on a baskets by Brooke Murch and Winslow.
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