WATERVILLE — Scott Gagne celebrated with a backward flip of his ball cap.

Eric Morin pumped his fist.

Alex and Ben Chicoine yelled and high-fived.

Within 10 minutes, a tenuous lead for the Lewiston High School boys’ tennis team turned into yet another state title.

Gagne, Morin, the Chicoines and Brett Vallee and Jake Berube at No. 2 doubles all celebrated match victories on Saturday as the Blue Devils overcame a stiff challenge from Scarborough for a 4-1 win and an eighth Class A state crown in nine seasons.

“Overall, I’d say our team had high expectations, and all year, it’s difficult to see where you are, because we weren’t pushed very hard,” Lewiston coach Ron Chicoine said. “It’s hard to keep your game up, and I’m proud of our guys for being able to get here and win.”

“I knew we had our hands full, because Lewiston was coming back basically with everybody,” Scarborough coach Craig McDonald said. “Being here before, they were familiar with things. But we were playing well coming into the playoffs, playing with confidence.”

The Red Storm gave the Devils a test they hadn’t really seen all season, particularly in doubles, where Joe Corbeau and Jeff Sirocki gave the Chicoine brothers all they could handle in consecutive sets.

“We didn’t drop a set in doubles all year, even in the preseason when we played Cape Elizabeth,” Chicoine said. “(Saturday), they were really challenged by two tough teams, and they hung in there and found a way to win.”

Ultimately, the Chicoines prevailed 6-4, 7-6 (6).

At the second doubles position, Vallee and Berube trailed Dan Slavin and Zach Pelczar three different times in the first set, and twice more in the second.

But in both cases, the Lewiston players rallied, winning the match 7-5, 6-3.

“I heard them announce second doubles had won, so I knew if I won my match, that would be the second point,” Gagne said.

A 6-1 winner in his opening set, Gagne nearly crumbled in the second, falling behind 0-3.

“I came out of the first set, I felt I was hitting the ball well,” Gagne said. “I didn’t want to change anything. But I started going down, and finally I told myself, there’s a difference between playing tentatively and playing smart. I wasn’t playing smart. I told myself I needed to hit my strokes. I wasn’t playing my game.”

Gagne reached into the memory bank, and thought of his — and his team’s — narrow defeat in last year’s Class A state final against Windham.

“I was trying my hardest not to, but during that match, I was thinking about my match last year, because I was up 5-2 in the second set after losing the first set last year,” Gagne said. “I pretty much told myself that the set was over, and he beat me that set, too. This year, I tried my hardest every single point, and tried not to let him back in the point, or in the set.”

Gagne won five of the next six games, and took the Devils’ second point at second singles, 6-1, 6-4.

Minutes later, Morin capped a rally of his own, dispatching Andrew Talbot 6-1, 7-5 after trailing 4-5 in the second set.

“I knew I had to really focus on only my court at that point,” Morin said. “That was going to be the clinching match.”

That left Eric Hall. Beleaguered by health issues, Hall struggled through the playoffs this season. But Saturday, he fought valiantly in defeat, ultimately dropping his match to Scarborough’s Alex Henny in two sets, 6-0, 7-5.

“Coming down with mono, it really threw a monkey wrench into his game, and the fact that he came back and battled back in the second set today, I was really proud of him,” Chicoine said.

Since Chicoine took over the Blue Devils’ program as head coach before the 2003 season, Lewiston is now 137-2 with eight state crowns in nine seasons. Saturday’s battle against Scarborough, he said, was one of his team’s toughest tests to date.

“It was unfamiliar territory for us,” Chicoine said. “It was nice to see how they handled it. They dug in and handled a very stressful situation, came back and played good tennis, and made the shots they needed to make and didn’t get down. It was frustrating not winning the way they were used to winning, but most of that was because Scarborough played well.”