LEWISTON — Got a hunch on who will ultimately emerge from Eastern Class A when everyone convenes at the Augusta Civic Center in five weeks? Throw your guess into the hat, because it’s as good as anyone else’s.

Mt. Blue further clouded an already murky Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference by dismantling Lewiston, 74-60, Friday night.

The win gave the Cougars something to pair up with Tuesday night’s victory over Edward Little and improved their record to 7-3. The Blue Devils’ loss was their first since they bowed to EL two nights before Christmas and snapped a four-game winning streak that included wins over Brunswick and top-ranked Hampden, both of which have already beaten, yep, Mt. Blue.

This time, the Devils (8-2) had no answer for Mt. Blue big men Nick Hilton (24 points, eight rebounds) and Cam Sennick (23 points, 11 rebounds, two blocked shots), or a rubbery 2-3 zone that shut off the paint and harassed Lewiston’s shorthanded perimeter game after the first quarter.

“This is a huge win,” Sennick said. “They’re a real good team. They were second (in the Heal Point standings) going into tonight, and I believe we were sixth, so it was a big win. I don’t think we realize just yet how much it will affect our season.”

“I think that’s the best team we’ve seen,” Lewiston coach Tim Farrar said.

Mt. Blue took control with a blistering third quarter in which it made its first five shots en route to going 10-for-13 from the floor.

After Donne Agossou’s layup pulled the Devils within three (42-39), Hilton and Sennick sparked a 12-2 Cougar run with back-to-back hoops inside. Eric Berry scored on a steal and then found Hilton inside for a bucket that made it 54-41.

The Blue Devils cut the deficit to five thanks to a Cody Mousseau 3-pointer and a Jake Dumas hoop. But Hilton came up with a steal between the circles, raced to the 3-point arc at the other end and drilled a trey at the buzzer to send the lead back into double digits, 59-49, heading into the fourth quarter.

Mt. Blue missed its first four shots of the fourth quarter. Yet the Blue Devils were only able to lop three points off the lead in that span.

The Cougars led by 11 midway through the period before Lewiston went on a quick run fueled by Agossou’s three-point play and a Steven Patrie bucket that made it 65-60 with a little over a minute remaining. But the Devils, who shot just 4-for-21 from the field in the quarter, didn’t score again.

“They’re physical, real physical,” Sennick said of Lewiston. “They’re not quite as big as we are, so we tried to use our length as much as we could. If we could match their intensity and be just as strong as them, we had the advantage.”

Playing without senior starting guard Shawn Ricker (illness), Lewiston drove to the hoop virtually at will early on while opening up an 18-12 lead. So Mt. Blue switched to a 2-3 zone, with the 6-foot-5 Sennick and 6-foot-4 Hilton making up two-thirds of the back wall.

“There’s not a lot of space when those big guys are just sitting there,” Farrar said. “You’re not going to get to the rim as easy.”

“It kept us out of foul trouble, and it saved Eric Berry a little bit, too,” Mt. Blue coach Jim Bessey said. “They never really solved it.”

Normally the starting point guard, Berry (four points, three assists, three steals) came off the bench for his first action since missing the last five games with a high ankle sprain. Steven Yardley, who moved from the two guard to the point in his place, tallied 11 points and four steals.

“He’s had to move from one position to another as a senior, not easy to do,” Bessey said. “Especially with the way with Eric, having the ball in his hands so much, it’s a lot of responsibility for Steven, and he’s done a great job.”

“(The adjustment) has been pretty big,” Yardley said. “I haven’t played the point since freshman year, so it was nice to have my partner in crime back. We’ve got two great guys down low. If you feed them the ball, they’ll score it.”

Sennick and Hilton pounded the offensive boards to pull the Cougars within two at the end of the first quarter. Hilton’s three-point play started a 13-2 run that put them in front for good in the second quarter.

Mt. Blue shot 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the first half and 15-for-18 for the game.

Lewiston made 8 of 19 free throws. Patrie and Josh Thomas led Lewiston with 13 points apiece.