The Edward Little girls’ basketball team started the season 0-2 and the questions began.

“Everybody and their sister were writing us off,” said EL coach Craig Jipson. “They’d say, ‘I thought you were supposed to be good? You started off 0-2.’ To kind of keep the course and not get too high or too low was key for us.”

Since then EL hasn’t lost. The Red Eddies have continued to roll and even avenged that first loss to Mt. Ararat Friday night.

EL came out strong in both the third and fourth quarters and opened the lead. Mt. Ararat tried to rally, but the Red Eddies secured a 45-41 victory.

“This was absolutely huge for us as far as the Heals go,” said Jipson, whose team hosts unbeaten Cony on Tuesday. “This was a team that Mt. Blue beat and Oxford Hills beat, teams we might be fighting for playoff spots. They’re going to win a lot of games.”

Ashlee Arnold led EL (10-2) with 22 points, 15 coming in the second half. Kory Norcross added eight while Crissy Lewis had seven. Mt. Ararat (7-5) got 18 from Leah Hitchcock and 10 from Mallory Nelson.

“That first game really motivated us to win this,” said Arnold. “We really needed to win. We played tougher defense in this game than the first one.”

EL opened a double-digit lead in the third with 11 straight points. Arnold had a pair of 3’s and Norcross drilled one as well. Kate Sawyer converted a steal and EL was up 29-10. The Eagles finished the quarter strong with six straight, including a Hitchcock three-point play to cut the lead to 29-25.

EL made another run to start the fourth. After two free throws, Arnold hit a 3. Then Lewis finished off a pair of nice Sawyer passes to make it 38-25.

“Kate’s two drives and passes to Crissy were absolutely huge,” said Jipson. “Those two players were monumental.”

The Eagles battled back again. EL had seven turnovers in the fourth. That enabled Mt. Ararat to rally with 10 straight to get within 38-35 with 1:57 left. Nelson had four points during that stretch and Kristi Willey had three, including the steal that made it a three-point game.

EL didn’t get another field goal the rest of the game but didn’t need one. The Red Eddies hit seven foul shots down the stretch. Tianna Harriman hit a crucial pair with 1:35 left to make it 40-35.

Though Hitchcock sank one, Arnold then hit four out of six and Kory Norcross added one late to keep the Eagles at bay.

“I just treat every free throw like any other one,” said Arnold. “I don’t really get pressured that much.”

Mt. Ararat started the game strong, outscoring EL 14-9 in the first quarter and getting balanced scoring.

“I thought we had a really good start,” said Mt. Ararat coach Kelly LaFountain, whose team has now lost three straight. “We haven’t had a lot of good luck shooting at home, which is unusual. I thought we shot the ball well in the first quarter. We were patient and got some good looks at the basket.”

Then the Eagles managed just three points in the second quarter, all free throws. Mt. Ararat shot 0-for-12 and missed a bunch of baskets in the paint. EL was down by as many as seven but used a 9-1 run to take a 18-17 lead at the half. Harriman had a 3 during the stretch. Norcross hit a jumper and Arnold scored four, including the last three to put EL ahead.

“We definitely gathered our momentum back,” said Arnold. “Usually it just takes a break at halftime to help us to get back into it.”

[email protected]