LEWISTON – Just one-third of the way through the high school basketball season, the Lewiston Blue Devils have already had their fair share of close calls. The closest came Tuesday night against Lawrence.

Christian Powers’ circus layup put Lawrence in front with 14 seconds remaining, then Nick Weekes’ runner to win for Lewiston rimmed out with 0.5 of a second left to give the Bulldogs a 51-50 in a sloppy but thrilling Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference clash.

“I’m trying to temper my frustration because we’re just so close. We are ridiculously close,” said Lewiston coach Tim Farrar. “These guys have given everything they had in every game, and it’s come down to one possession every game, though not necessarily in the final score.”

“With two-thirds of the teams making it, we’re still going to have a chance to make the playoffs,” he added. “The things that it is going to take for us to win those games, we’re doing.”

Lewiston (1-5) had a hand in its own demise, turning the ball over 23 times in the second half and 33 times for the game. That helped Lawrence (4-2) chip away at a 10-point deficit after one quarter to tie the game at the end of three.

Andy Pulk gave the Devils their final lead when he collected a Ronnie Turner miss and put it back in while being fouled with 40 seconds left. Pulk missed the free throw to keep Lewiston’s lead at 50-49.

Lawrence, which struggled against Lewiston’s fullcourt pressure early, spread the floor and got the ball to Powers, who drove down the left wing, kept his dribble under the basket then threw a reverse layup over his head and in to give the Bulldogs the lead for good with 14 seconds left.

“They cut me off like they were going to block me from behind, so I just went around to the other side for a reverse layup,” Powers said. “I wasn’t really surprised it went in.”

Lewiston pushed the ball up the court without a timeout but turned the ball over. On the ensuing inbounds, the Devils immediately fouled Ben Violette with 7.9 seconds to go.

Violette missed both freebies. Weekes rebounded the second miss, dribbled the length of the court and got off a five-footer in the paint that initially looked like it would go down but rolled out. The rebound went out of bounds off Lewiston.

Turner finished with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Pulk added 10 points for Lewiston. Brooks Spaulding led Lawrence with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Violette chipped in with 11 points.

The Blue Devils broke out to an 18-8 lead, converting numerous layups plus a Omar Mohamed dunk off eight Lawrence turnovers.

The Bulldogs settled down in the second quarter. They started to attack the press better but couldn’t finish.

“We couldn’t practice (Monday) because we didn’t have school and that hurt because with Lewiston you’ve got to prepare because they come at you. Mt. Blue is the only team that’s pressed us,” said Lawrence coach Mike McGee, whose team had 25 turnovers. “We got real comfortable after the first quarter, but then we missed layups. We had 18 or 19 missed layups.”

Nevertheless, better ball-handling by Lawrence forced the Devils into their halfcourt offense, where they’ve struggled so far this year. They managed just two field goals in the first six minutes of the second quarter, but Yahaye Mohamed closed the period with a 3-pointer and another hoop to preserve Lewiston’s lead, which stood at six at intermission.

Lewiston led by as much as eight during a sloppy third quarter in which both teams combined for 21 turnovers, but Lawrence went on a 7-0 run in the final 1:23 to knot the game at 40-40 heading into the final period.