AUBURN – Friday night’s Western Maine Conference clash between Traip Academy and St. Dom’s took on a decidedly Mountain Valley Conference flavor, and not just because there were representatives from the rival Class C conference scattered about Callahan Family Gymnasium scouting potential tournament foes.

It didn’t take long for the game to turn into an MVC-style scrum, which was to St. Dom’s liking. The Saints exploited a 36-3 advantage in free throw attempts to pick up an important 51-37 win.

“This is huge,” Saints coach Ryan Deschenes said. “We were coming off three tough losses in a row. If we didn’t win tonight, we were looking at a low seed in the prelims. Now, if we beat Old Orchard Beach at home on Tuesday, depending on how other teams do, we’ve got a great shot at getting a home prelim.”

Greg LaBonte paced a balanced Saints offense with 14 points and five assists, while Aaron Allen chipped in with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. D.J. St. Pierre and Peter Keaney added nine points apiece. George Mortimer led foul-plagued Traip with 10 points off the bench.

“To hold a team like that to 37, and stick with a team like Falmouth like we did (in a 51-38 loss one week ago) shows that we can play with anyone,” LaBonte said. “It’s a good sign.”

The Saints (9-8) never trailed. Allen gave them the lead for good with a jumper to make it 12-10 at the start of the second quarter. That cushion got as high as nine in the first half on a St. Pierre bucket off a LaBonte feed.

“We dictated the pace of the game,” Deschenes said. “It was a grind-it-out game. We held a very high-profile offensive team to 37 points. Offensively, we were patient and got it into the post in good positions. We attacked the basket so we got some fouls to some key players early.”

Traip (11-3) was averaging 68 points per game coming into Friday, but foul trouble to two of its leading scorers, Eric Modica and Brennen Connor, kept the offense in low gear all night. Modica went to the bench with his fourth foul early in the third quarter.

“We know them from playing them every year, twice a year. We know who their good guys are and we tried to shut them down,” LaBonte said. “We got their big guys in foul trouble and got them on the bench. They don’t have a very deep bench.”

The Rangers still managed to hang around as Dustin Laclair hit a 3-pointer in the final minute of the period to make it a three-point game heading into the fourth quarter.

Traip pulled within two on a Riley Sheahan basket 36 seconds into the fourth. Conner, who combined with Modica for just six points, fouled out with 5:33 left, however, in the midst of a 10-0 Saints run. St. Pierre started it with an three-point play, followed by an inside hoop by Chris Bryant and a three-point play by LaBonte that made it 43-32.

Traip coach Jeremy Paul declined comment after the game.

“Coach told us if it came down to whoever gets to 50 first, we’d probably win, but if it was whoever got to 60 first, they’d probably win, so we needed to dictate that game,” LaBonte said. “We executed our game plan.”