LEWISTON — Edward Little came out of halftime with a lead, but then found itself trailing for much of the second half.
The Red Eddies were able to send Thursday night’s rivalry game against Lewiston to overtime, where they completed the rally with a 61-59 boys basketball victory.
“It was a battle all the way through,” Edward Little coach Mike Adams said. “Lewiston hit big shots, and we hit big shots, and big stops for both teams. It was just a great high school basketball game for this early in the year.”
The Blue Devils (1-2) were primed to take a 29-27 lead into halftime after Eli Bigelow’s late layup, but then Edward Little’s Marshal Adams made a 3-pointer at the buzzer after receiving an inbounds pass with 0.6 seconds left, making it 30-29 Red Eddies (1-2) at the break.
Lewiston regained the lead early in the third quarter on a Yusuf Dakane 3, then the Blue Devils unleashed a press defense that gave the Red Eddies fits.
“It was tough. They have a great press, and they double-team us,” Edward Little junior guard Eli St. Laurent said.
When the dust cleared about two minutes later, Lewiston’s lead had ballooned to 41-30.
“We felt like we played their pace first half,” Lewiston coach Elgin Physic said. “And we talked (at halftime) about just pushing the pace, and try to get some paint touches, more paint touches in the second half, and just kind of bring out more energy and intensity.”
Edward Little started chipping away, starting with Tudum Monday’s three-point play. He soon added a layup to make it a six-point game at 41-35.
“We took a timeout, and they came to the bench, and I said, ‘Hey listen, that’s their run,’ and, ‘It happens. What are we going to do and how are we going to fix it?'” Mike Adams said, “They just had a lot of mental composure in that third and fourth quarter to overcome the deficit and get back to doing what we needed to do to beat Lewiston.”
By the end of the third quarter, the Blue Devils still held a six-point lead, 46-40.
The Red Eddies’ defense helped get the deficit to within one possession with about three minutes left in the fourth when Mohamed Adow stole the ball to set up a Landon Cougle layup to draw within 50-48.
“I give (Edward Little) credit, they fought hard back,” Physic said. “I thought we had some mental mistakes, and then we had some shots that just were kind of point-blank shots that just didn’t go down on that run. So I thought that was big. And again, I give them credit for fighting back, as well.”
Edward Little’s Mohamed Adow takes the ball up the court while being defended by Lewiston’s Yusuf Dakane during Thursday’s game in Lewiston. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
Marshal Adams’ two free throws tied the game 50-50 with 1:25 left.
Dakane tried to keep the Blue Devils ahead, converting consecutive layups, but Cougle answered both with layups of his own. The latter made it 54-54 with 15 seconds left, and that score remained when the buzzer to end regulation sounded.
Adow laid it up and in off the tipoff to give the Red Eddies the initial lead in the extra session. Edward Little didn’t trail in overtime, though Lewiston’s Michael Klick did briefly tie it up, 58-58, with a layup after Adow’s opening basket.
Cougle gave the Red Eddies the lead for good with another layup. He finished with 14 points.
Eli St. Laurent extended the lead to 60-56 with a pair of made free throws, but Dakane cut it to 60-59 on a 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left.
St. Laurent made another foul shot with 11.2 seconds left, and as the final horn sounded, Lewiston’s last-ditch 3-point attempt rimmed out.
“I mean, I’m always nervous, but, you know, I got to block out the noise,” St. Laurent said of his clutch free throws. “I took a couple deep breaths and I hit ’em.”
Adams (15 points), Monday (11) and Adow (10) joined Cougle in double figures for Edward Little. St. Laurent, who played with four fouls in the fourth quarter and overtime, added eight, including converting 6 of 8 free throws.
“He was still making things happen on both sides of the ball for us,” Mike Adams said. “And, you know, the old Eli, on the fourth foul, could have self-destructed or been caught up with it, and he didn’t let that happen. He stayed mentally strong and was a good floor general for us through the fourth quarter and overtime. And we couldn’t have won that game if he didn’t do that.”
Dakane led all scorers with 29 points, while Eli Bigelow scored 18 of his 19 for Lewiston in the first half.
“(Eli), he’s a strong, rugged kid. I mean, the kid gets hit a lot, and to just be able to change direction, just go strong, is just big for us,” Physic said. “The kid is just a warrior.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
