AUBURN — Lewiston took advantage of the fact that, in the first half, Edward Little appeared to forget a few things: how to pass, how to shoot, how to be patient for three.

And, the Eddies appeared to forget that they are the two-time defending Eastern Class A champions, playing on their home floor.

EL served up a reminder in the second half, at the Blue Devils’ expense.

After sitting out most of the third quarter in foul trouble, Bo Leary drained 10 points in the fourth — going a perfect 6-for-6 from the line — his brother, Quin, hit a clutch 3-pointer and the Eddies remembered how to play defense as they came from behind to defeat the rival Blue Devils 52-41 on Tuesday night.

“We’ll take it,” EL coach Mike Adams said. “Lewiston’s a very good team, they’re going to win a lot of games this year, and any time you can win a game like this one, especially with the rivalry, that’s a good boost to start the season.”

Bo Leary finished with 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the Eddies in both categories. Brandon Giguere and Quin Leary hit for 10 each.

The loss for Lewiston is its first of the young season.

“I thought we played hard the whole game,” Lewiston coach Tim Farrar said. “It kind of got a little out of hand late in the fourth quarter, but I thought we hung in there and played tough all game.”

That tough play took EL off its game early. After the Eddies bolted out to a quick 5-0 advantage, the Devils’ defense took over, and their offense couldn’t miss. Despite being heavily outrebounded in the first, Lewiston went on a 10-2 run to close out the quarter, including a Cody Mousseau trey at the buzzer.

“We hit some shots to cover up our sins out there,” Farrar said, referring to his squad’s lack of rebounding prowess. “That first half is the best we’ve shot all year, and usually, we rebound better than that.”

Edward Little’s slow start, Adams said, came from a combination of things.

“We had the bye the first week, then we play Cony … and then we have the delay at Brunswick, so we’ve only played one game,” Adams said. “Lewiston is as good, quick and physical a defense as we’ll face all year, and we just couldn’t get into any flow because of it all early.”

Lewiston expanded its lead to 27-20 by halftime thanks to three more 3-pointers, one each from Sheldon Jones, Shawn Ricker and Mousseau.

“I don’t think there was any one thing we focused on at the half,” Bo Leary said. “We just needed to keep doing what we were doing, stay patient and believe in our shots.”

In the third, though, Leary took an early third foul.

“In the second, our guards were getting way too passive,” Adams said. “It was, ‘Look for Bo, look for Bo, look for Bo.’ In that third quarter, we saw that Bo was in foul trouble, and we had to take him out of the game, but I also thought maybe we could run one of our offenses where we get more guys moving, passing the basketball more, and it did.”

EL clawed back with 11 points in the third, and held Lewiston to just a pair of field goals, one each from Corbin Hyde and Steven Patrie. Quin Leary hit a bomb from the left wing to give the Eddies their first lead since it was 5-3 in the first. Bo Leary then hit a pair of free throws and Giguere nailed a two-pointer on a baseline drive.

Lewiston never got closer than five points again. Hyde led the Devils with 12 points. Jones and Mousseau registered eight each.

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