LEWISTON — Oxford Hills already knows its capabilities with Andrew Fleming on the court.
The Vikings showed on Saturday night that as the wear-and-tear and whistles accumulate over the boys’ basketball season, they can survive (for a few minutes, at least) without him.
Fleming sat down after an intentional foul, his second personal, with 6:07 remaining in the first half and Oxford Hills leading by 10. The Vikings protected that lead in his absence until the horn.
One dominant third quarter by the 6-foot-6, University of Maine-bound big man later, Oxford Hills set sail to an 86-65 Class AA North victory over Lewiston.
“Andrew was on the AAU team that went all over the country. We played all summer without him pretty much, and very well, I might add,” Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam said. “They’re used to playing without him. Obviously it’s nice to have him out there, because he’s a dominant force.”
To say the least. Fleming chalked up 35 minutes, 15 rebounds, four steals and three assists in only 19 minutes.
He punctuated it with two second-half dunks, including one of the take-off-from-the-foul-line, tomahawk variety that even drew a standing salute from the Lewiston student section.
“I just saw a lane and went up with the ball,” Fleming said. “I guess you could say (I was) fired up. I just wanted to not force anything, kind of take a back seat until I got going again.”
It wasn’t a long wait. Fleming scored the first nine Oxford Hills points of the second half and tallied 13 overall in the third quarter. That’s when the Vikings used runs of 7 and 11 unanswered points to turn a 41-31 lead into a 65-45 cushion.
Cole Verrier added a career-high 20 points for Oxford Hills, including three of the Vikings’ eight 3-pointers. He started at point guard in place of senior Blake Slicer, who is nursing an ankle injury.
Fleming’s brother, freshman Matthew, added 13 points in his initial varsity game.
Most of Lewiston’s roster was in that same boat. Ibn Khalid led the Blue Devils with 14 points. Mohamedsidiq Hussein added 12.
“I asked them before the game, ‘How many of you have played in a varsity game?’ All the hands shot up,” Lewiston coach Tim Farrar said. “Then I asked, ‘How many of you have only played two minutes of a varsity game?’ The same hands went up. That’s how it works. Get ready to play a team that’s considered a preemptive champion.”
Verrier and the elder Fleming scored every point during a 13-0 run that launched Oxford Hills to a 22-9 advantage.
Prior to that, Verrier sank a fadeaway shot from the right corner to start a four-point play and give the Vikings their initial lead.
“I saw the court well and saw my teammates,” Verrier said.
“He’s been really good for us with Blake out,” Graffam added. “He’s had to take over the point guard position, and he’s a shooter. We look forward to Blake coming back, because I think that’s going to make Cole a sniper.”
Fleming and Verrier strung together six consecutive points in the opening minute of the second period. Fleming’s half ended when he was chastised for leading with his forearm after a steal.
Jordan Palmer sank both resulting free throws for Lewiston, but the Devils couldn’t deliver a serious run. A 3-pointer and two free throws by Khalid cut the gap to 32-25 with 3:22 to go. Verrier answered with two from the line, followed by another trey.
Verrier also went 3-for-4 from the stripe to cap what was a foul-filled first half at both ends.
“Our kids play hard. That’s what we asked them to do. We understand it’s a process. We understand how good they are,” Farrar said. “I look at that game, ‘How are we going to win it?’ and they look at it as, ‘We’re going to win it.’ That’s the attitude they came in with, and I thought they played hard all night.”
Oxford Hills forced 21 turnovers, committed 14, and was only one made field goal shy of the 50 percent mark (28-for-57) from the field.
“In the past we’ve been trying to play a different game (than Lewiston), but I think an up-paced game like this is what we’re trying to play this year,’ Fleming said. “We have the guys to do it.”
Lewiston sent 12 players into the game, and each of them scored. Fuad Abdi joined Hussein and Khalid with a pair of 3-pointers.
Khalid is not listed on the Devils’ roster.
“We were questioning does he belong, and I think tonight he proved he belongs,” Farrar said. “We asked the kids to pick out one thing they did well tonight and one thing they could work on. As far as playing hard, they have nothing to be ashamed of there.”
Oxford Hills is coming off back-to-back seasons in which it ended the regular season as the No. 6 seed in Class A.
With the consensus top player in Maine in their camp, the Vikings face much higher expectations in the inaugural AA go-round.
“It’s going to be an interesting season,” Graffam said, “I just don’t know about Portland and Deering. And we’ve beaten Edward Little once since 2006.”
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