TOPSHAM — Edward Little High School girls’ basketball coach Craig Jipson preached during the preseason that his team was young, and with seven sophomores and three freshman, he speaks the truth.

Still, his Red Eddies had things right where they wanted them in their Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference opener against highly-regarded Mt. Ararat, leading 51-43 with 2:22 remaining.

The Eagles had other ideas, outscoring EL, 12-1, the rest of the way for a stunning 55-52 come-from-behind victory.

With the Red Eddies (0-1) scheduled to host another preseason favorite in Cony in their home opener on Tuesday, Jipson and his youngsters plan on working to get past this tough opening setback.

“Hopefully we’ll bounce back from this, knowing that Cony will be a tough opponent,” said Jipson. “We’re young, and we’re going to make some young kid mistakes. They will get better as the season goes on.”

Leading 52-49 with 30 seconds remaining, a pair of missed free throws by EL was followed by a layup by Mt. Ararat’s Mallory Nelson to get the Eagles within a point with 20 seconds left.

Mt. Ararat called a timeout, making plans to foul and force the Red Eddies to win the game at the foul line. Instead, guard Kristi Willey skied to tip the inbounds pass, with the ball going to Nelson. She drove to the basket, with her shot going in while being fouled. Nelson made the free throw to complete the hoop and harm, giving her a game-high 32 points.

“Our team stayed strong the whole time and we never gave up, even when they had a 10-point lead,” said Nelson. “They were in foul trouble and we kept trying to scratch and claw at it.”

A turnover gave the ball back to the Eagles, and Caitlin LaFountain made a free throw for a 55-52 advantage. A desperation shot by EL’s Kate Sawyer was off the mark at the buzzer.

“We missed a couple free throws, but I was very disappointed in our defense,” said Jipson. “They were scoring in eight seconds, and we talked in the huddle of having them run off 30, 40 seconds, but Nelson played like a warrior and absolutely took over the game and made some big shots. Mt. Ararat is very good and they did a good job.”

Mt. Ararat opened the game quickly, with Nelson providing a preview of things to come by scoring the Eagles’ first six points, and a short jumper by Mt. Ararat’s Chelsea Crawford made for an 8-1 contest three minutes in.

Jipson called a timeout, and his Red Eddies regrouped, going on a 7-0 run to tie the game, with Lindsey Cornelison giving Mt. Ararat a 10-8 lead after a quarter.

EL senior Ashlee Arnold began finding her range, giving the Red Eddies their first lead with a 3-pointer (11-10). She scored six points in the second quarter, giving Arnold a game-high 10 points at the break as EL took a 21-16 advantage to the intermission.

Mt. Ararat struggled from the field in the first half, making just 6-of-21 from the floor (28 percent), with Nelson leading the way with eight points.

Arnold continued to lead EL in the third quarter. Her 12 third quarter points allowed the Red Eddies to build a game-high 13-point advantage, 39-26, late in the quarter, with EL holding a 41-31 lead through 24 minutes.

“We always start rough, and in the locker room we said we are used to this, and we came out and kept our composure and played well in third quarter,” said EL’s Kory Norcross, who chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds.

Arnold’s last two points came at the line with 2:27 remaining, giving her 22 points and her team a 51-43 lead.

Mt. Ararat reeled off four straight points, two from Nelson and another pair from LaFountain, to get the Eagles to 51-47. Norcross sank a free throw for a five-point Red Eddies advantage, but Nelson went to work, scoring seven straight points for a 54-52 advantage and the victory.

“Nelson used her size on us. We are not as big down below with our starters, and she took advantage of a couple us with foul trouble,” said Norcross, who played the final two minutes with four fouls.

“This one was huge in the fact that we got down to a very good team and they were able to fight back possession by possession and give us a chance to win,” said Mt. Ararat coach Kelly LaFountain, whose Eagles visit Oxford Hills on Tuesday.

Brooke Reynolds pulled down seven rebounds for the Red Eddies, while Arnold had six steals. EL was 17 of 49 (34 percent) from the field, but struggled at the free-throw line, going 12 of 22.

Mt. Ararat held a 38-28 rebound advantage and shot 38 percent (20 of 52) from the floor. The Eagles were 14 of 20 at the charity stripe.