SOUTH PARIS — Top-seeded Hampden Academy will present No. 9 Mt. Ararat with numerous challenges when they meet in the Eastern A quarterfinals Saturday night. But it’s unlikely the unbeaten favorites will be able to test the Eagles’ fortitude like Ryan Godin and No. 8 Oxford Hills did on Wednesday night.

Godin scored 14 points in the final four minutes and single-handedly brought the Vikings to the brink of a dramatic comeback. But Mt. Ararat made just enough free throws down the stretch to hang on for a 53-52 win in a dramatic prelim.

Godin was unstoppable down the stretch, drilling four 3-pointers to spark the Vikings’ furious rally from a 46-36 deficit with five minutes remaining. His last 3-pointer, from the left wing, pulled them within one with four seconds left.

With Oxford Hills out of timeouts, Mt. Ararat didn’t have to inbound the ball. But the Eagles did, to sophomore Mason Griffin, who was standing all alone on the wing opposite from where Godin had just hit his shot. The Vikings hesitated a moment, then scrambled to get to Griffin for a foul that would stop the clock. The clock read 0.0 before they did.

“I looked up and I didn’t even realize it was one point,” Griffin said. “It was kind of nerve-wracking.”

Griffin finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Eagles (8-11), who split two regular-season meetings with the Vikings. Freshman Shyheim Ulrickson added 15 points, five assists and three steals.

Godin led the Vikings (8-11) with 17 points off the bench, including 14 of their final 16 points.

“That was unbelievable. I mean, they were playing him right there,” Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam said. “He single-handedly got us back in that game.”

Mt. Ararat seemed to take control of the game with an 11-1 run to start the second quarter. The Eagles’ 2-3 zone forced the Vikings to score from the perimeter, and with the exception of freshman Andrew Fleming (14 points), they didn’t have much success.

“They’re a little bigger, a little stronger, and their kids finish around the rim,” Mt. Ararat coach Aaron Watson said. “We anticipated showing (zone) and man and switching a lot, but we ended up running a heck of a lot more zone because we didn’t think that they adjusted to it well.”

“We knew they were going to play a zone. Obviously, you’ve got to be able to make some outside shots,” Graffam said. “I thought we were fairly patient. I thought we attacked it pretty well. But once again, you’ve got to make some threes.”

The Vikings were 2-for-10 on 3-pointers before Godin got hot. The Eagles, meanwhile, got more high-percentage shots thanks to their guards’ ability to penetrate and find the open man. They shot 50 percent (18-for-36) from the floor.

“It’s a team game. When you see a guy open, you’ve got to hit him,” Ulrickson said.

“We couldn’t defend them,” Graffam said. “They took the ball to the rim on us and dished to score. That was the difference in the game.”

The Eagles led by six at halftime and by as many as 11 in the third quarter. The lead was at 10 after Jake Demonsthenes scored what would be their last field goal of the game with five minutes remaining.

Godin warmed up by stripping a Mt. Ararat rebounder and laying it in. He then hit three straight treys from the left wing to pull the Vikings within a point with 1:03 remaining.

Clutch free throw shooting by Demosthenes, and, after a miss by Godin from the right corner, Ulrickson made it 51-47.

Matt Beauchesne fed Dalton Rice for a layup to make it 51-49 with 14 seconds to go. The Vikings fouled Ulrickson immediately, but the freshman cooly sank both free throws for the four-point lead that ultimately rendered Godin’s last bomb harmless.

“In practice, we always focus on not getting overwhelmed,” Ulrickson said. “It’s something we say a lot — don’t get overwhelmed. Just stay calm. It got pretty hot. But we just had to keep on playing ‘D’ and stay calm.”