LEWISTON — After several minutes of tapping on the window at Geiger Elementary, Elgin Physic decided he couldn’t afford to wait any longer.

Physic called his basketball team together and told them to get dressed for practice. Today’s practice, he announced, was outside.

The team was supposed to practice in the gym, but a miscommunication locked them out and forced them to start the session under the late afternoon sun on the asphalt playground court.

Physic and his players don’t mind a little organized chaos. After all, that is their preferred style of basketball. But when the players started their warm-ups a little sluggish, the coach called the team together again.

He reminded them that the biggest games of their lives were coming up soon. Spending the first day of summer practicing outside was a small price to pay to get ready.

“No more excuses,” he said.

The doors to the school eventually opened and practice moved inside. For the next 90 minutes, Physic refined his team’s hard-nosed style under soft lights rather than harsh sunshine.

The way Physic explains it, there is a very fine line between executing and not executing his team’s frenetic style of basketball.

“We don’t want to become part of the chaos. We want to inflict the chaos,” Physic said.

Physic’s MBNation Physic 14-and-under AAU basketball team inflicted enough chaos in the recent state tournament to qualify for nationals, scheduled for July 27-31 in Hampton, Va.

Consisting of 11 youngsters age 11-14 from Lewiston, Turner, Monmouth and Gray-New Gloucester, MBNation Physic has come a long way in just six months.

“No one ever gave us a shot to be state title contenders,” Physic said. “But this group has bought into playing basketball the way it should be — together, with a team concept.”

Physic, 33, is originally from the Boston area (he played college basketball at Framingham State). He moved to Maine 2 1/2 years ago to become a state trooper and started coaching local rec and travel squads shortly thereafter.

Noting the lack of AAU teams in the area, Physic contacted the Saco-based MBNation for help in getting one started.

He formed the team knowing it would take some time to develop the chemistry and consistency necessary to compete with some of the top teams in the state.

“With eighth-graders, you never know what you’re going to get,” he said. “It’s like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

The Lewiston area basketball squad competed in tournaments around southern Maine and also played a number of ninth- and 10th-grade teams. Like any young team starting out, it went through some growing pains.

“What Elgin has done with this group is remarkable,” said Mike Woodbury, owner of MBNation.

Woodbury recalled a New Year’s tournament where Physic brought a ragtag group of athletes that could run the court with anybody but lacked the fundamentals to win.

“I can tell you the transformation has been remarkable,” Woodbury said. “Elgin has given them some structure that maybe some of those kids haven’t seen before.”

“It’s been about teamwork, believing in each other and our coach telling us we can do it,” said Quintarian Brown of Lewiston, one of the team’s leading scorers and rebounders.

The team went 4-1, losing only to eventual state champion MBNation Malloy, to finish third in the state tournament (the top three in a 14-team field qualified for nationals). Brown, Isaiah Harris and Isaiah Calder were the scoring leaders in the tournament, but the key to MBNation Physic’s success has been its defense.

“We do man-to-man defense. We do zone defense. But our man-to-man defense is crazy good,” said Ibrahim Ali, one of the top defenders on the team.

Physic presses full-court the entire 32 minutes of a game. They hope to get turnovers and easy hoops in transition out of it, but the ultimate goal is to erode the opposition’s will.

“They may break it all throughout the game,” Physic said, “but in the last five minutes the pressure is going to be too much. They’re going to be tired and they’re going to start to make mistakes.”

Ali, 14, is the key to the defense, Physic said.

“He’s the vocal leader,” Physic said. “And he sets the tone defensively. In the tournament, if somebody isn’t able to stick with somebody, he’ll take them.”

Through car washes, bottle drives and tagging, the team has been raising funds for the trip to Virginia. Physic said he hopes to raise up to $7,000 and perhaps continue fundraising throughout the year so the team can travel to more out-of-state tournaments next year.

The lessons from the fundraising and team building are just as important as what the players learn on the court, Physic said. Everyone has had to learn new roles on the court and how to get along with teammates from different towns and backgrounds.

“Everybody’s got a hand in this team and everybody’s working towards a common goal,” he said.

To follow MBNation Physic’s progress through the tournament, log on to www.thenationbasketball.org.

MBNation Physic roster:

Ibrahim Ali

Quintarian Brown

Isaiah Calder

David Chanlatte

Isaiah Harris

Ibrahim Hussein

Desmond Jackson

Andreas Karriotis

Andrew Mukuombi

Salad Sheikh

Isaiah Trask