Edward Little’s Ibn Khalid goes to the basket as Oxford Hills’ Chris St. Pierre reaches for the ball. (Brewster Burns photo)
PARIS — Hoping to host a first-round tournament game next month, Oxford Hills desperately needed a win to add to their Heal-point credentials.
In order to close the gap on Edward Little, the team directly ahead of them in the Class AA North standings, the Vikings turned to what has gotten them this far — defense.
Oxford Hills held EL to nine points in the final quarter, and two in the final two minutes, to knock off the Red Eddies, 58-54, on Thursday night and avenge its season-opening loss to its KVAC rivals.
“This is huge,” said junior guard Spencer Strong, who led the Vikings with 16 points. “We’re looking for that home playoff game.”
Atreyu Keniston added 14 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, while Chris St. Pierre also chipped in with 14 points for the Vikings (6-6). Wol Maiwen led the Red Eddies (9-4) with 20 points, eight rebounds and five blocks, while Ibn Khalid added 14 points.
Keniston’s inside hoop gave the Vikings a lead they would never relinquish at 48-47 early in the fourth quarter. They led by as much as five before Darby Shea’s layup made it a one-possession game at 55-52 with 2:17 to go.
EL had a chance to tie it after forcing a backcourt violation, but Janek Luksza forced another over-and-back with air-tight defense at midcourt against Eddies’ guard Tyler Morin with 1:41 left.
“Defense is really our thing,” Luksza said. “We always come out strong and play ‘D.'”
“We felt like we could put the pressure on and really make it tough for them to handle,” Strong said. “Teams come up to our gym and they just have a really tough time with the atmosphere and all of the fans and everything, so putting the pressure on really rattles them.”
Strong sank a pair of free throws to make it a five-point lead again with 1:22 to go. Khalid answered with a hoop that made it 57-54 with 1:13 remaining.
Khalid had a chance to make it closer when he was fouled after a steal, but he missed both free throws to keep it a three-point game.
Poor foul shooting plagued EL all night (8-for-22, 36 percent), while the Vikings (14-for-23, 61 percent) made better use of their opportunities.
“Free throws would have helped, free throws and turnovers,” said Edward Little coach Mike Adams, whose team had 21 turnovers.
Oxford Hills’ Colton Carson (eight points, 10 rebounds) caught the charity stripe virus and missed a pair of free throws to leave the door open for EL to tie with 39.8 seconds remaining.
The teams then exchanged turnovers, giving the Eddies one more shot to tie it. After a time out, they got the ball to Austin Brown, whose 3-point attempt went off the front of the rim.
Keniston rebounded and EL ultimately fouled Luksza, who made one of two free throws with 0.5 seconds left to seal it.
“We wanted to look for Austin or Darby or Tyler coming up (for the final shot),” Adams said. “Our struggles in the halfcourt hurt us, and Oxford Hills played really well tonight. It’s always tough to play here.”
EL could have made it tougher on the home team after the Vikings opened the game by missing their first 10 shots. By the time St. Pierre ended the drought with a baseline drive with 2:42 left in the first quarter, the Eddies’ lead was only 8-2. Ahmed Safi’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave EL a 15-10 lead at the end of the quarter.
“We’re a good defensive team. If we shoot it just a little bit, we’ve got a chance to win. But we’ve had some games where we haven’t shot it well at all,” Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam said. “But this team has some resilience. They battle through. They defend. We persevered through those adverse times.”
Morin fed Maiwen inside for back-to-back hoops, including a dunk, to put EL up 23-14. The Vikings battled back with a 12-4 run, sparked by a St. Pierre 3 and steal and three-point play by Carson, to pull within 27-26 at the half.
St. Pierre drilled another trey to open the second half to give the Vikings their first lead. Eight EL turnovers in the third quarter helped them extend the margin to 43-34 on St. Pierre’s fourth 3-pointer of the night.
Fueled by a Khalid steal that led to another Maiwen jam, EL battled back to tie it, 45-45, on Khalid’s 3 late in the third.
“We struggle with EL in close games, historically, so this was a huge win for us,” said Graffam, whose team fell to the Eddies, 58-51, in Auburn. “Obviously, Heal point-wise it was a huge win for us. We’ve got five games in 11 days starting Saturday (at Leavitt) and the huge part of it is getting a home tournament game.”
“Losing down to Gorham (50-49) the other night,” he added, “I thought we’re going to be in trouble. We’re going to have to beat someone really good, and we did tonight. I’m proud of those kids.”
Edward Little’s Darby Shea attempts to score against the defense of Oxford Hills’ Atreyu Keniston. (Brewster Burns photo)
Oxford Hills’ Colton Carson and Edward Little’s Austin Brown battle under the Vikings’ basket for a rebound. (Brewster Burns photo)
Edward Little’s Tyler Morin gets by Oxford Hills’ Spencer Strong. (Brewster Burns photo)
Oxford Hills’ Atreyu Keniston tries to get a shot off as Edward Little’s Wol Maiwen and Ibn Khalid defend. (Brewster Burns photo)
Edward Little’s Austin Brown keeps Oxford Hills’ Spenser Strong out of the paint. (Brewster Burns photo)
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