AUBURN — Edward Little found itself in foul trouble Saturday for the first time all year, according to Coach Mike Adams.
The Red Eddies also found themselves trailing for much of their game against Oxford Hills, but they rallied for a 58-53 win in a Class AA North boys’ basketball game.
“It was great to just do a lot of little things to try to overcome all those things, and the kids made stops and got big baskets when we needed to,” Adams said.
Except for a couple brief leads in the first half, the Red Eddies (10-2) spent much of the game playing from behind. They trailed by six with less than six minutes to play, but a Wol Maiwen putback with 45 seconds left gave EL a 53-51 lead.
“You know, every night you have to play your perfect game to have a chance to win,” said Oxford Hills Coach Scott Graffam, who called his team’s schedule brutal. “And, you know, if you can’t make foul shots and you don’t box out … and that’s what happened to us in the fourth quarter.”
The Vikings (7-6) missed three of their seven foul shots in the fourth quarter, including the front end of a 1-and-1 twice. The Red Eddies, meanwhile, made 9 of 12 free throws in the fourth, including Austin Brown going 5 of 5.
There were 45 fouls called – 23 against Oxford Hills, 22 against Edward Little. That included two on Maiwen in the first 3:15, and two on Colton Carson of Oxford Hills in the first 31 seconds.
“Colton and Wol were both in foul trouble, you know, which is too bad, because they’re two of the best players in the state,” Adams said. “So neither team could really get into a rhythm without some of their players.”
EL also had to sit starters Max Creaser and Cam Yorke because of two fouls apiece in the first quarter.
Oxford Hills took advantage with its guard play. Spencer Strong and Garrett Record scored four points each in the first quarter, which ended with the Vikings ahead, 15-11. Carson’s replacements – Tanner Herrick and Patrick Paine – also added baskets.
“Tanner and Pat Paine gave us really good minutes off the bench,” Graffam said.
Maiwen drew a third foul on Carson midway through the second, then sank two free throws to give EL a 17-16 advantage, but Herrick answered with a three-point play. An Eric Robinson layup tied it, but then Record responded with a jumper, and Oxford Hills held onto the lead until midway through the fourth.
A Maiwen dunk in transition one minute into the fourth cut EL’s deficit to 40-39. Oxford Hills, though, stretched its advantage to six on a Record 3-pointer with 5:45 remaining.
Fouls helped the Red Eddies get back in it. Three-point plays by Yorke and Brown both tied the game, with Brown’s making it 51-51 with 1:31 to play.
“We were in the situation to do some things that we worked on (in practice), but it’s always good when your kids show growth and show maturity,” Adams said. “We practice great situations against a really good team with really good players. So tonight it worked in our favor. Tomorrow it might not, you know, because Oxford Hills is really good.”
Maiwen led all scorers with 18 points. Brown added 13, with six in the first period and seven in the fourth.
Record led the Vikings with 13 points in what Graffam called his best game of the year. Strong had 10 – half of his season average.
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