LEWISTON — The Edward Little boys’ basketball team is making the transition from rebuilding to reloading in midstream.
Beaten in five of its first six games, badly overmatched in short bursts against the favorites in Class AA, EL extended its winning streak to three on Wednesday night with a defensive clinic at the expense of archrival Lewiston, 54-39.
The Red Eddies harassed Lewiston into the same number of turnovers as points (19) through the first three periods. That turned out to be a magic number, as it was also the Blue Devils’ field goal efficiency (10-for-54) on the night.
“We were accessories,” Lewiston coach Tim Farrar quipped. “I don’t know if we scored on consecutive possessions the whole game. If we hit a couple of shots, we get to relax and feel good about life.”
Fahad Hassan hit Lewiston’s first shot of the game, a 3-pointer. The Devils missed their next six and committed turnovers on eight of their first 10 possessions.
The Eddies, meanwhile, erupted for 16 unanswered points, 10 by Jarod Norcross Plourde. Tyler Morin set up another Plourde basket to make it 18-7 with 5:17 remaining in the first half, and EL’s advantage never again dipped into single digits.
“We have to be solid defensively. We’re not the team we’ve had in years past where we go out and score at will,” EL coach Mike Adams said. “They’ve worked really hard, and we’re doing some different things that we’ve never done before, so I’m really proud of how far they’ve come this year.”
Plourde led all scorers with 16 points and added four steals for EL (4-5). Morin scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. Samatar Iman combined 13 points with 10 rebounds.
Abdinasir Issack notched nine of his team-high 11 points for Lewiston (2-7) in the final period.
“That was one of the best defensive games we’ve played. It was intensity, just everybody being able to work together,” Iman said. “We did a great job rebounding, even though Lewiston is a great team, athletic.”
It was the lowest point total of the winter for the run-and-gun Devils, who have been in the 60s on four occasions.
EL shut out big man Mohamedsidiq Hussein in the first half and held him to two points. Five of Lewiston’s 10 field goals were 3-pointers, and three of those came in a 13-2 run during a 90-second span of the fourth quarter.
“Two young teams that had the jitters,” Farrar said. “I think they got to relax early because they hit a couple shots. They were able to relax and play basketball, while our guys never really got comfortable.”
The Eddies hit 7 of 13 from the field in the first quarter. Iman and Plourde combined for 22 points in the first half, staking EL to a 26-13 lead.
Hassan (six points) and Luke Madore (two) were the only Lewiston starters to score before intermission.
“A team like Lewiston that’s very emotional, if they get it going, it can be a long night as Brunswick found out last week,” Adams said. “We didn’t want that to happen tonight. We wanted to close out quickly on shooters and keep the ball in front of us and help off dribble penetration.”
Madore scored on a put-back to give the Devils life early in the third period.
The Eddies notched the next seven points on a Plourde 3-point play via C.J. Jipson, a Morin 18-footer, and an Austin Cox bucket off a baseline drive and drop pass from Iman.
“Our shot chart was great. We looked for each other and made things happen,” Adams said. “That’s how we have to play. We have good players, but we’re definitely stronger when we play as a group.”
Lewiston went more than eight minutes without a field goal while EL rolled up a 43-21 advantage with 5:24 left.
“They did go on a run (late in the game), but we were able to keep our composure and slow it down. We didn’t want to run with them,” Iman said. “They are a great shooting team, but we controlled the pace. We actually controlled the game.”
Offensive rebounds led to 3-pointers by Ibn Khalin and Issack. Lewiston crawled within 11, at 45-34, on Issack’s second splashdown with 3:16 to go.
“This game is what it is as far as emotion and stuff. We played hard. We competed,” Farrar said. “I looked up and we were down 12. I felt like if we actually made a shot (we had a chance). But we were rushed. We weren’t breathing. We weren’t seeing the whole floor.”
Morin hit eight consecutive free throws down the stretch to seal it. Iman also worked the ball to Darby Shea for a layup.
“We were desperate for a good win. You start to doubt yourself when you lose games like we have,” Adams said. “We’ve never made any excuse. We’ve played good teams, and we did play well at times.”
EL has beaten Morse, Noble and now Lewiston in the past eight days.
“We were in a slump,” Iman said, “but now we’re out of it.”
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