By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

SOUTH PARIS – There may not have been any coincidence that four out of the five Oxford Hills players on the floor had the number three on their jersey.

After hitting 10 trey’s already Friday night, there was no doubt what the Vikings were looking for in the final seconds.

Down by three and looking for another clutch 3-pointer, Oxford Hills hoped to go long distance once more, but this time the Vikings didn’t the get chance. A turnover and a free throw by Cony enabled the unbeaten Rams to seal a 66-62 victory.

“We were looking for a 3, and we called the play,” said Oxford Hills coach Craig Jipson. “The kid wasn’t open. Cony’s a great defensive team. We hit (seven) 3’s. So maybe we went to the well one too often. We had hoped to hit it. Our kids were hotter than a two-dollar pistol.”

Cony (10-0) had built a seven-point lead four different times in the second half, only to watch the Vikings (8-2) come charging back in a battle of two of Eastern’s A’s top teams.

“Coach Jipson had his team ready to play,” said Cony coach Paul Vachon. “They were phenomenal. They played great and deserve a lot of credit.”

Though Oxford Hills closed the gap to 55-53 with four points from Annie Foster, Cony got a 3-pointer from Briiana Rende and two free throws from Katie Rollins for a 60-53 lead with 3:35 left.

Kristina Bowden and Rachael Mack traded baskets. Then Bowden hit two free throws, and Allison Fox hit a 3-pointer with 1:12 left to get within 62-60.

Missed free throws by Cony allowed Oxford Hills to keep close. Two free throws by Kari Pelletier made it 63-62 with 33 seconds remaining. Rende hit two free throws with 31 seconds left making it a 65-62 game. The Vikings were looking for the game-tying 3-pointer but lost the ball out of bounds with 12 seconds left.

“The kids executed everything perfectly,” said Jipson. “Cony’s got a great big team. We don’t match up with their size, but the thing I think that mattered tonight was the size of our heart. The kids showed a lot of character. They were cool under pressure. They hit some big shots. I told them in the locker room not to hang their heads and that I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Foster led the Vikings with 13 points. Bowden and Kelsey Pelletier each had 12 while Kari Pelletier had 10.

Cony’s Cassie Cooper had 18 points and seven rebounds while Rollins had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Rende had 12 points and seven assists.

Rende had nine of her points in the final quarter and had a number of assists that went inside to Rollins, Cooper and Mack.

“Briiana is my senior point guard,” said Vachon. “She’s got to come get the ball. She’s got to do it. She’s done it all the time for two years now. She’s our bread-and-butter when it comes to the point guard.”

Though Cony had struggled with turnovers and foul trouble on Rollins and Cooper, Rende managed to feed the post effectively in the second half. Six points from Cooper and Mack helped open a seven-point lead late in the third. The Vikings got four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter from the Pelletiers, Fox and Foster to fuel the rally.

“In some other years, even with some good teams I’ve had, we haven’t come close to playing with them,” said Jipson. “That was a game until the final 10 seconds.”