FARMINGTON – Unless we’re watching Bangor and maybe Hampden or Cony, what Mt. Blue and Oxford Hills exhibited Friday night is what we’re going to get from Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference boys’ basketball this winter.

Young teams learning on the fly. Lots of lead changes. And games decided in the final minute, with neither the winner nor the loser slithering far away from the .500 plateau.

Mt. Blue gets to celebrate the holidays on the favorable end of that benchmark after sending Oxford Hills to the flip side with a 60-57 verdict.

Ben Russell’s steal and bucket with 2:47 remaining represented the 14th and final lead change. The Cougars (3-2) never trailed by more than seven points but never enjoyed a cushion larger than the three at game’s end.

“Our losses were by four and two,” said Russell.

“Almost all our games have been close, and it’s usually fast-paced just like that one.”

Senior tri-captain Joe Gilbert – with Russell, one of the scarce returnees from a Mt. Blue team that lost an Eastern Class A semifinal classic last February – led all scorers with 25 points to go with 12 rebounds.

Russell racked up 17 points and seven steals and was 11-for-12 from the free-throw line, including six straight attempts in the fourth quarter and four in the final 31.8 seconds.

“We put the wrong kid on the line at the end,” said Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam.

Those heroics were nothing new from an unflappable junior who was actually mad at himself for a second-quarter miss because it temporarily cost him a chance to break his personal record streak. Russell swished 26 in a row during one stretch last winter.

“That’s what you get from that kid. We had a fundraiser where each of the kids took 100 free throws, and he made 98 of ’em,” Mt. Blue coach Jim Bessey said of Russell.

Twelve players saw time and all but two posted at least two points for the Vikings (2-3).

Thomas McGee scored 14 of his team-high 16 in the first half, including three 3-pointers. Jordan Farrar added 11 and Josh Childs eight for Oxford Hills, whose 54 percent field goal shooting was counteracted by 22 turnovers.

“They’re all pretty much equal right now,” Graffam said of his group. “We’re still trying to find the right combination while staying as loyal as we can to our seniors.”

Defensively, Oxford Hills used a triangle-and-two alignment to keep streaky shooters Jamie Sawyer (seven points) and Russell (three field goals) under wraps. But Gilbert delivered 15 in the first half and eight in the third period to keep the Cougars afloat.

Mt. Blue trailed 18-11 late in the opening period, then took a brief lead in the second before McGee’s third trey gave the Vikings a 34-32 halftime edge.

“That’s pretty unusual for me,” Gilbert said. “I’m not really the shooter on this team.”

Ryan Yates strung together two hoops and Childs made a steal and transition deuce to put the Vikings in front by five, 51-46, with 6:02 left. Mt. Blue junior reserve Sean Simpson answered with the first four points in an 8-2 Cougars run, though, and Russell’s defensive gem along the baseline provided the exclamation point.

Russell also reeled in the rebound after McGee’s potential game-tying 3-pointer rattled off the rim as time expired.