FARMINGTON – Undefeated teams have dropped like flies in the first month of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference boys’ basketball season.

Bitten by the upset bug at the front end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, Mt. Blue wielded the swatter in a vacation-week matinee Tuesday. The Cougars conducted a first-half defensive and transition clinic, weaving a 21-point lead at the break and cruising to a 69-57 victory over previously unblemished Brewer.

“They were ranked No. 1, so we knew we were going to have to come in and play our best game so far. We definitely did that,” said Mt. Blue senior guard Jamie Sawyer. “That’s easily the best half we’ve played all year.”

Sawyer scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to help the Cougars stave off a spirited rally by the streaky, smaller and short-handed Witches. Brewer battled back from its 38-17 halftime disparity to trail only 55-49 with five minutes remaining.

Both teams are 6-1, sharing that space in the loss column with KVAC preseason favorite Edward Little. Morse is the only unbeaten club in Eastern Class A, pending a home date Tuesday night against Cony.

Mt. Blue scored 12 unanswered points in a 90-second span of the first period and finished the half on another 9-0 run. The lead crested at 38-17 on Ryan Backus’ bucket just inside the buzzer.

The Cougars harassed Brewer into 5-of-23 shooting and forced 10 turnovers.

“We did everything right in the first half and were able to get enough of a lead so that we kept it at a reasonable spread the whole second half,” said Mt. Blue coach Jim Bessey.

Backus scored 11 of his 15 points in the first quarter. Sawyer and Backus each finished with five steals. Ben Russell also racked up 15 points for the Cougars.

Brewer sank eight of its first 11 field goal tries to fuel its inevitable run in the third quarter. The Witches scored the last six points, keeping Mt. Blue off the board for the final 3:40, to crawl within sniffing distance of single digits at 51-40.

The Witches might have sliced even deeper into the deficit without an 0-for-6 finish and four missed free throws in the third. Brewer also lost its lone proven presence in the paint when Billy Bissell landed awkwardly on his left ankle while chasing a rebound. Bissell was helped off the court and did not return.

“We’re small to begin with. We had one kid over six feet out there in the fourth quarter,” said first-year Brewer coach Clayton Blood, whose many stops on the coaching carousel include a stint at Mexico High School in the 1980s. “They beat us on the offensive boards badly.”

Freshman Cam Sennick’s put-back with 6:48 remaining was the lone drop of refreshment in Mt. Blue’s lengthy field goal drought. Kyle O’Connell’s 3-pointer, subsequent steal and dish to Ray Bessette for a deuce brought the Witches within six at 53-47.

Sawyer and Russell soon scored on consecutive possessions to restore a 10-point cushion. Brewer never snuck closer than seven down the stretch.

The buffet of early lay-ups allowed Mt. Blue to shoot 53 percent from the field. Sennick and Adam Wiles-Rosell combined for 15 points down low, with Sennick swatting four shots. Jordan Hoyt contributed a pair of 3-pointers.

“It’s almost like they were running downhill. With their pressure the first half, it seemed like every roll went their way,” Blood said. “They were much more aggressive. They grabbed the momentum.”

Tyler Bessette struck for 15 of his 17 points in the second half for Brewer. Coby Hutchins and Dom Drake each chipped in 10. Drake finished one steal shy of a triple-double with 10 rebounds and nine thefts.

Mt. Blue suffered its defeat at Oxford Hills on Dec. 19. The Cougars were less motivated by that recent memory than the specter of last winter’s surprising home loss to Brewer, Sawyer said.

“This was a big win. They were undefeated, very similar to us in terms of style and the way they play,” Bessey said. “I thought Jamie and Ben did a good job controlling the tempo the last four minutes.”