By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

AUBURN – The occasional brain cramp or growing pain aside, Edward Little played most of its boys’ basketball contest with Morse as if it sensed a chance to snag a precious Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win Friday night.

This morning, one well-earned night’s sleep and one protein shake later, the Red Eddies intend to follow their 55-50 triumph over the Shipbuilders by behaving like a bunch that believes it can etch a few more chalk marks in the W’ column.

“We’ll be back at 7 a.m. lifting weights, and then we’ll practice after that,” said Edward Little coach Mike Adams. “It’s a hard-working group. We have to be. There are a lot of teams out there who are better than us right now, and there’s nothing wrong with saying that if you’re willing to put in the work and improve.”

EL (2-6) started and finished with fireworks against similarly young, equally inspired Morse (0-10). The Red Eddies raced out to a 14-5 advantage, rode out six second-half lead changes and sped away with a 14-3 flourish early in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore forward Troy Barnies scored six of his game-high 18 points in the final stanza. Freshman guard Kyle Philbrook also put up six of his nine in the finishing kick, including a 10-foot jumper, steal and lay-up in a 23-second span that restored the Red Eddies’ advantage for keeps.

Seniors shared the spotlight, too. Darin Meyers contributed 14 points and nine boards, while Chipper Houston delivered four steals and many meaningful checkouts under the offensive glass.

“We thought we could win tonight. We always play hard. We’ve been in every game except for one,” said Morse coach Brett Barnes. “Edward Little is the best one-and-whatever team we’ve seen.”

Jon Miller steered the Shipbuilders with 17 points, including a 3-pointer that halved the gap to 53-50 with 29 seconds left. But EL broke the Shipbulders’ troublesome press on its next possession, and Meyers fed Houston for an uncontested deuce to finish it.

Mike Percy pitched in 13 and Josh Tuplin totaled 11 for Morse.

EL overcame 19 turnovers by sharing the basketball and finding high-percentage shots when it mattered most. The Red Eddies went 8-for-12 from the floor in the opening period and 7-for-12 in the fourth.

“I’m not counting us out,” Adams said. “We might not be as good yet as the top three or four teams in our league, so we try to match their ability with our intensity.”