LEWISTON — Twelve losses against one win, with minimal chance to make the tournament, are enough to persuade many high school basketball teams to pack it in and play out the string.

Not the Lewiston girls, who have answered the bell in late January with their three best offensive games of the season.

Thursday’s 52-42 KVAC victory over Brewer was the Blue Devils’ second in that stretch. Lewiston (3-13) also lost by only three points to tournament-bound Brunswick.

“We have a lot of young players, so it’s about getting them up to speed and used to the varsity level,” Amanda Swart, one of three Lewiston seniors, said.

Lewiston exhibited those growing pains in a brutal first half. The Blue Devils trailed 22-13 at intermission before an 11-0 run to open the third quarter.

Kristina Blais scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half. Swart scored seven in the third period and finished with 12.

“All the teams we’ve been playing, play zone, and (Brewer plays) man. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves in the first half,” Lewiston coach Lynn Girouard said. “At halftime I’m like, ‘We have some plays that we can run against man.’ So they finally calmed down and ran our offense and got some good-looking shots.”

Brewer (0-16) bounced back with consecutive baskets by Cassie Brown and Chelsea Frederick to reclaim the lead. Frederick’s 3-pointer put the Witches in front again, 29-27, with 2:22 to go in the third.

Blais scored eight during another 12-1 surge, sandwiched by an open 3-pointer and a 3-point play off a steal, to send Lewiston on its way.

“Coach Girouard’s halftime speech got us a little fired up,” Blais said. “I just had to get myself going.”

Courtney Pearson and Brooke Richards combined for 13 first-half points to fuel Brewer.

The Witches went 8-for-16 from the free-throw line in the half, while Devils earned only three attempts and missed two. Swart said Lewiston adjusted in the second half by staying in its defensive stance and eliminating hand checks.

Brewer limited Lewiston to three points in the second quarter.

“We couldn’t do anything. I think the girls kind of played like (they were expected to win), and you can’t,” Girouard said. “They’re a decent team. They’re very well-coached. I was nervous in the first half, but we came out in the second half and played like we should have been playing.”

Gabby Barrett added seven points for Lewiston. The Devils have averaged 60.7 points per game in the past three games after not previously hitting 50.

Pearson paced Brewer with 10.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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