FARMINGTON – Competitive balance is one thing. Unpredictability, another. But now Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference boys’ basketball is just getting loony.

Mt. Blue turned a 16-point deficit into a 10-point lead in less than seven minutes of second-half clock time Friday night, more than enough reversal of fortune to steal a 64-56 thriller from Oxford Hills.

Shelled through six mystifying quarters against their pesky visitors this winter, the Cougars (10-3) treated the Vikings (6-7) like their personal Washington Generals in a bizarre shift of the prevailing winds.

From Jordan Hoyt’s 3-pointer with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter to Ben Russell’s steal and uncontested layup with 7:08 to go in the fourth, the Cougars carved out a dizzying 30-4 run.

“Pressure. We turned them over. It was fun to watch, wasn’t it?” summarized an exultant Mt. Blue coach Jim Bessey, still red-faced from running an obstacle course of high-fives in the Cougars’ loud locker room. “No. 3 (Oxford Hills point guard Cody Hadley) got in a little foul trouble. I think that helped us. Then we went after them and turned ’em, turned ’em, turned ’em. The tempo just kept going our way.”

Hadley retreated to the bench with his third foul at the 6:23 mark of the third, his Vikings nursing a seemingly safe 38-22 lead.

Ten frighteningly quick Mt. Blue transition points forced Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam to gamble and put Hadley back on the floor. The junior acquired his fourth infraction with 3:48 left in the period.

Oxford Hills committed 11 of its 21 turnovers in the third stanza. Six of those came off the fingers of Russell, who finished with 20 points, eight thefts and five rebounds. The Cougars gave away the ball only twice after Oxford Hills forced a dozen miscues in the first half.

Believe it or not, it isn’t the first time the Vikings have watched a hefty advantage evaporate in the space of one period. Oxford Hills frittered away a 13-point halftime edge against Skowhegan before the third quarter horn.

“I would attribute it to their pressure. We played as well as we possibly could in the first half. The other thing is we didn’t get to the foul line,” said Graffam, acknowledging an 18-7 foul disparity. “It was ridiculous. They pressed hard the whole second half and only had five fouls called on them, but what can you do? You can’t blame the officials. We didn’t take care of business.”

Hoyt scored nine of his 15 points in the third quarter for the Cougars, who avenged a 59-49 loss in Paris last month. Jamie Sawyer added 13 points and seven assists.

Freshman Cam Sennick (12 points, nine rebounds) and senior Devin Zamboni (four points, nine rebounds, four steals) performed yeoman low post duty in the absence of Ryan Backus, who is out indefinitely with an infection.

Josh Childs led Oxford Hills with 15 points and eight rebounds. Jordan Farrar contributed 11 points, eight boards and five assists. Matt Verrier chipped in 10 points and seven caroms.

Oxford Hills scored the final seven points of the first half — one of Childs’ three 3-pointers and two inside buckets by Farrar — and claimed its largest lead to that point at 14.

Verrier’s foul-line jumper landed the initial blow of the second half. To say the third quarter was all Mt. Blue thereafter is gentle: The Vikings had difficulty even crossing the time line.

“I had a sick feeling in my stomach. I did not want to lose to Oxford Hills again,” Russell said. “I thought at home we would have the intensity right out of the gate, and it wasn’t there for sure. We need to work on that.”

To the Vikings’ credit, not even the complete unraveling shooed them away. Childs whittled the newfound deficit to three on three different occasions, the last drive for a deuce making it 56-53 with 3:17 left.

Sennick’s short jumper, Sawyer’s slash to the hoop and four consecutive free throws by Zamboni and Russell sealed the Cougars’ fourth straight victory.