AUBURN — Edward Little survived a game-winning shot attempt by Lewiston at the end of regulation then two more at the end of the first overtime before finally pulling away in the second overtime.
The only thing going through John Shea’s mind late in the fourth quarter and during the overtime periods was, “Win, win, win.”
Shea came up big in the overtimes, helping Edward Little capped off the regular season with a 74-66 boys basketball win over its cross-river rival Thursday.
The senior scored 16 points in the two overtimes and finished with a game-high 37 for the Red Eddies (16-2).
“Put the basketball in the hoop, that’s it,” Shea said. “It’s not much more than that. My willingness to win was pretty high, so is my team’s, and that’s why we had so much success. I expect us to go deep into the playoffs, just like everyone else on the team, and I think we’re proving people wrong this year.”
Lewiston (13-5) showed its own willingness to win, and came close to upsetting the top-ranked team in the Class AA North Heal point standings.
The Blue Devils held a two-point lead late in regulation, but Edward Little’s Pat Anthoine made two free throws to tie the game at 53-53 with 1:17 remaining in the fourth.
In the closing seconds of regulation, the score still 53-53, Lewiston senior guard David Omasombo came off a screen and received a pass before shooting a baseline jumper with five seconds remaining. The shot was off, but teammate Eli Bigelow was there to collect the rebound and attempted a last-second putback. The ball hung on the rim for a moment before falling off, sending the Lewiston-Edward Little rivalry to overtime for only the fourth time in its long history.
After the teams swapped free throws to open the overtime scoring, Shea was fouled on a layup and added the free throw for a three-point play that put Edward Little ahead 58-55.
“What I was thinking towards the end of the stretch was we just gotta keep playing, play defense and it was all about runs,” Shea said.
Lewiston went on a mini run right after Shea’s three-point play.
Omasombo drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing to tie it at 58-58 with 2:18 remaining in the first overtime. Then, Donovan Jackson stole the ball and found Malik Foster for a layup to put the Blue Devils in the lead 60-58 with two minutes left.
Shea made a free throw after Lewiston big man Eli Bigelow fouled out, but Foster (21 points) scored after an offensive rebound push Lewiston’s lead back to three points, 62-59, with one minute left.
Shea hit two free throws with 32 seconds left to make it a one-point game. Then, with 24 seconds left, Conor Burtchell hit his second free throw attempt to tie the game at 62-62.
Lewiston had a few layup attempts in the waning seconds that didn’t fall, so the game continued into a second overtime.
According to Auburn-Lewiston sports historian Bim Gibson, Friday was the first time a Lewiston-Edward Little boys basketball game went two overtimes.
Double-overtime isn’t brand new to the Blue Devils, who beat Bangor in triple-overtime on Feb. 1. But Red Eddies coach Mike Adams said he can’t remember a game he’s coached that went two overtimes.
Lewiston had pressured Edward Little’s guards throughout the game. As the game progressed, Adams said the best way to calm his players was to stay calm himself.
“Over the course of the season, I did some things earlier in the year that I reflected on and found I got too emotional sometimes,” Adams said. “If I want my guys to not get too emotional, then I need to coach that way. It was getting them to calm down. Lewiston tries to get you to play faster than you should, and if I am screaming and getting up and (showing) pure emotion, then our guys will play that way.”
A tip-in by Foster started the scoring in the second overtime and put Lewiston ahead 62-64 with 3:10 left.
Shea later collected back-to-back offensive rebounds and scored off the second one to tie the game with 2:50 to play. With 2:05 left, a slick pass by Marshal Adams set up Shea for another three-point play, which made the score 67-64 in Edward Little’s favor.
Marshal Adams is normally the Eddies’ sharp shooter. He didn’t score Thursday, but helped out in other ways.
“It’s making reads,” Mike Adams said. “We have some entries to get them the ball, and our guys made some really good reads to get him the basketball. Even with Lewiston in the right spot, we made some really unbelievable passes to get John the ball. When John is guarded that close, and you can still get him the ball, that says a lot about our guards snapping the ball to him.
“I wanted to let Marshal know that he is our shooter, but he had six rebounds and five or six assists, and just because his shots didn’t fall, he did things that helped us win.”
Jackson, who finished with 18 points, hit a layup to pull Lewiston within 67-66, but then Edward Little pulled away.
Shea hit three free throws to give the Red Eddies a four-point lead.
With 15 seconds left, he grabbed a defensive rebound and found Eli St. Laurent who sprinted the ball up the court. Shea got up from off the ground and ran down to catch a pass and convert a layup while getting fouled, making the Eddies’ lead 72-66. Shea missed the foul shot, but his bucket sealed the win for Edward Little.
“I was hoping Eli saw me in the spot he needed to get me the ball, and he did,” Shea said. “That’s just another example of my teammates trusting me and putting the ball in the hoop. My teammates were putting me in great spots at the end of the game.”
Anthoine added a dunk just before the final buzzer.
Lewiston coach Elgin Physic said Thursday’s game, despite being a loss was still a source of pride.
“Biggest thing was to stay calm and run our offense,” Physic said. “Obviously, defend, rebound, take care of the ball. I am really proud of our kids. We have won 10 out of the last 12. We had a layup at the end of regulation and it bounces off at the last second. I am proud of how far we’ve come. We are going to get back in practice tomorrow and get ready for the tournament.”
Four of Lewiston’s five losses this season were to AA North’s top seeds, Edward Little and Lewiston.
The Red Eddies, who head into the postseason on a six-game winning streak, beat the Blue Devils 69-59 in the teams’ first meeting Dec. 18 in Lewiston.
While Marshal Adam’s shots weren’t falling Thursday, St. Laurent provided an early spark for the Red Eddies’ offense by hitting three of his five 3-pointers in the first half.
“It felt great getting my team going,” St. Laurent, who finished with 17 points, said. “We were down early, but those 3s got us back in the game. Once I start seeing them go down, then I start feeling them a bit more.”
Mike Adams was happy with how the Red Eddies adjusted to how each player’s game unfolded.
“When we do what we do, we are really hard to guard,” Adams said. “Some things we usually do well didn’t go well tonight, like Marshal didn’t shoot well, but Eli did. That’s what we are. We have a bunch of guys that do the things they do, we pick each other up and we play well together.”
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