AUBURN — It has taken a good part of the season, but the Oxford Hills girls’ basketball team just might be back to its regular self.
The defending Eastern A champs have been battling injury all winter, but recently returned their full roster to the floor. After a 35-34 win over Edward Little Tuesday, it looks like Oxford Hills is nearing full strength once again.
“It was really tough coming into the season,” senior guard Mikayla Morin said. “We missed two of us through the whole preseason, and Anna (Winslow) got hurt late in the preseason. It’s tough. The girls stepped up. We had a tough game against EL the first game of the season, but it’s definitely good to have everyone back and starting to build that team that can complete.”
The Vikings (7-2) were without Morin, Winslow and Tianna Sugars in a 50-23 loss on opening night. Oxford Hills, ranked fourth in Eastern A, has slowly gotten the injured players back. First, Winslow, then Morin and, most recently, Sugars.
“It’s really the second game of us all being together,” Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier said. “We had our ups and down in this game. I was very happy with our defense. This team is averaging 50-something points per game. We were able to hold them down. For us, 35 points is what normal is. So we’ve really got to buckle down on defense, and I thought we did that.”
The Vikings had the lead up to as many as 11 in the third quarter, but EL made a late run in the final minutes. The Red Eddies (6-3) scored the last eight points of the game to close within one. EL even had a last-ditch opportunity with five seconds left but a long-distance try by Tianna Harriman was off.
“I give my kids credit that we didn’t die, but we didn’t take the ball to the rim enough,” EL coach Craig Jipson said. “We didn’t execute anywhere near as well as we should have. We’ve played too many big games to blame it on nerves. It’s just a lack of listening and focus and that’s unacceptable.”
Morin led the Vikings with 12 points, 10 of those came in the second half. Erin Eastman had 11, eight of which came in the third to help Oxford Hills open the lead. Winslow added eight.
EL got 12 from Emily Jacques, who scored eight of her points in the final quarter. Tianna Harriman added 10, including a trio of 3s that kept EL within reach.
“It’s a big win for us,” Morin said. “We’ ve had some easy games lately. Today, it was a tough team, and we proved we can win. We’ve beaten the not-so-good teams, and we’ve also competed and won the close games.”
It was a typical defensive battle between the two rivals, and Oxford Hills had the 11-10 lead at the half. The Vikings, which defeated EL in the regional final last year, shot 3-for-15 in the first half while EL was 3-for-17.
In the third, the Vikings managed to open up the lead. Morin led the initial surge. After the two teams traded the lead a few times, Morin hit a 3 to make it 16-14. She added two free throws. Then Eastman followed with a 3 for a 21-14 lead with 3:55 left. Harriman answered with a 3, but Eastman hit another and then sank two free throws following a steal to make it 26-17. Sugars scored in the post for an 11-point advantage with 1:28 left.
“We just had some defensive lapses in the the third quarter,” Jipson said. “Eastman’s 3s were absolutely huge. I was most disappointed with our defense. We talk over and over about guarding the person that’s one pass away. Morin hit a big 3 and then Eastman hit two huge 3s. All nine of those points should have been contested.”
The Vikings took a 30-20 lead into the fourth. Brooke Reynolds converted a pass from Harriman to start the quarter. Then Harriman drilled a 3 to cut the lead to 30-25. The Vikings were up 34-25 after free throws by Winslow, Erin Morton and Morin. Jacques hit a short jumper, and Morin hit a free throw to make it 35-27 with 3:25 left. The Vikings wouldn’t score again.
“It definitely comes in spurts,” Pelletier said of his team’s offense. “The game of basketball comes in spurts. I was hoping we’d have a spurt at the end. We just couldn’t. We’d turn it over, but we did enough to win. That’s all you can ask for.”
EL trimmed the lead with defensive pressure at the end. The Vikings had 11 turnovers in the fourth. After a Jacques rebound made it 35-29 with 2:17 left, EL crept closer from the free throw line. The Vikings missed some key foul shots to allow EL to stay within reach. Jacques sank four from the line and Harriman added one as the Red Eddies close the gap.
Two from Jacques got EL within 35-33 with 56 seconds left. With 17 seconds remaining, Jacques had the chance to tie it but only hit one free throw. The Vikings turned the ball over with five seconds remaining, giving EL one last chance.
“It got a little close,” Morin said. “They made some big shots at the end and put themselves in a good position to win. We ended up doing that little extra to get through.”
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