Though young on the perimeter, long-distance shooting has been a spark for the Vikings, especially with three injured players working their way back into the lineup at various times.

With that outside shooting going cold recently, Oxford Hills knew it had to compensate.

“Ever since the Mt. Blue game, we really decided that this wasn’t the way we wanted our season to go,” senior forward Anna Winslow said. “We wanted to step it up. We just couldn’t get our offense going. That was the only night that our 3-point game wasn’t working. We realized that without that, we really struggled. So we needed to develop our inside game.”

The Vikings displayed great progress with those efforts Friday night. Oxford Hills found success in the paint and opened an early lead in a 64-47 win over Messalonskee.

“We’ve been working on that,” Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier said. “We’ve been telling our big girls that they’ve got to want to score. The last couple of games, we’ve been getting it inside. They’ve been playing really well together.”

The Vikings struggled to escape with a 47-40 overtime win over Mt. Blue last weekend. Oxford Hills then produced its largest offensive output with 67 points in a win over Lewiston, and then nearly matched that against the Eagles on Friday.

“That’s the thing we’ve been focusing on the last four or five practices,” Winslow said. “With the height that we do have, we’ve wanted to be working inside and then back out.”

Winslow led Oxford Hills (11-2) with 20 points while Tianna Sugars added 14. Mikayla Morin and Erin Morton each had nine while Ally Hanely added seven.

It was the outside game that became a compliment to the post play for Oxford Hills, not the other way around.

“It really helps the outside a lot,” Pelletier said. “If you work inside-out, it’s a lot easier that way. The kids are a lot more confident shooting. They don’t feel like they have to make every outside shot. Overall, it’s been a good transition.”

Messalonskee (6-7) got 12 from Sophia Holmes and 11 from McKenna Brodeur.

The Vikings earned their 10th straight win with some effective offense in the first half. Oxford Hills hit five of its first seven shots in the first quarter and four of its first six in the second. That enabled the Vikings to build a 34-15 lead by halftime.

Though the trio of Hanley, Morton and Erin Eastman has provided the Vikings an outside presence for much of the season, Oxford Hills didn’t need that spark from the perimeter against the Eagles. The Vikings were able to find open players in the post or weren’t afraid to take the ball to the rim.

“We have to take advantage of our strengths,” Pelletier said. “Almost every night we’re going to be one of the bigger teams on the floor – with the exception of Bangor. We’ve got to take advantage of that. We’ve been able to do that the last couple of games. We’ve just got to keep that going.”

Winslow and Sugars each had four points in the post in the first quarter as the Vikings built a 12-9 lead. The Vikings, who host Bangor on Monday, finished the quarter with a 10-4 run, getting points in the post along with a jumper from Morin and a steal by Morton.

The Eagles were able to get within three early in the second, but Oxford Hills broke the game open with a 20-4 surge. Messalonskee went the last five-plus minutes of the half without a field goal.

“That’s the key to our success – to start off better earlier,” Winslow said. “We’re more relaxed offensively and defensively when we’re better earlier.”

After a basket by Brodeur cut it to 14-11, Sugars scored in the post and Morin followed with a drive. Holmes answered to make it 18-13 with 5:02 left. Then Hanley drilled a 3 and followed that up with a drive that extended the lead to 23-13. After two free throws from Halee Flewelling, the Vikings ran off 11 straight. Winslow scored twice in the post as did Jayden Colby. Winslow put back a rebound,and Morton ended the half with a 3 for the 34-15 lead.

“We usually depend on a 3-point shot to kind of get our scoring rolling,” Winslow said. “Me and Tianna have been working it inside and using each other. She sets screens for me and I set screens for her.”

The Vikings extended the lead to 51-27 in the third. Winslow had six points in the quarter while Sugars had four. The Eagles made a dent in the lead in the fourth. Messalonskee scored 11 straight, led by a 3 from Taylor Easler and six points from Brodeur. That only closed the deficit to 17 points.

With the three injured starters (Morin, Sugars and Winslow) returning to form after missing time early in the year, the Vikings are beginning to improve with each outing.

“We’re three weeks playing all together,” Pelletier said. “So we’re really getting through our preseason and still working out the kinks. So far, it’s going well.”

kmills@sunjournal.com