LEWISTON — A team comprised almost exclusively of seniors is the ultimate blessing-or-curse experiment in high school sports.

If one or two of those athletes play with the compulsion that they know it all, or have one foot already out the gymnasium door or one eye already fixed upon June, it can be disastrous. Get everyone swimming in the same direction, however, and the combination of talent and experience can carry a program to heights unseen in decades.

Chart the current season for Lewiston boys’ basketball and there have been times when each outcome appeared likely. Riding the crest of their second four-game winning streak heading into the final week of the regular season, the Blue Devils flaunt an urgency that shows they recognize this golden opportunity.

“We went on a four-game losing streak. That was challenging, but we regrouped,” guard Ace Curry said. “As a senior class we talked about what we had to do, and I think it’s been showing on the court.”

In the space of just over a month, Lewiston (10-6) plummeted from second to eighth in Class A East Heal Points before rising to third again.

Ten seniors have ensured that their class will make it a perfect 4-for-4 in regional tournament appearances at Augusta Civic Center. Talk of making a run at the school’s first state title since 1960 is realistic.

“Where we’re trending right now is good,” Lewiston coach Tim Farrar. “It’s a good group. They got along even when we were struggling.”

Lewiston has negotiated the highs and lows of a brutal KVAC schedule without an individual star, at least on paper. The Devils didn’t have a top-10 scorer in the league’s most recent statistical rundown.

The Devils’ go-to player, 6-foot-4 forward Isaiah Harris, somehow achieved basketball anonymity by earning a Division I scholarship to Penn State with his track and field skills.

“Nothing was going to keep me off the court,” Harris said. “Basketball is my love. I kind of feel sad that people now don’t even think of me as a basketball player.”

The three-guard rotation of Curry, Ryan Bell and Tykeem Gaines, who transferred to Lewiston too late as a junior to join the basketball team, combine with Harris to make the Blue Devils’ starting five an athletic nightmare for opponents. That’s before 6-foot-10 center Trever Irish is even mentioned.

Quintarian Brown, arguably the KVAC’s top sixth man, leads the league in steals per game. And the upper-class parade continues with Tylon Myers, Kevin Dillingham and Carter Chabot, who combined for 18 points Thursday in a 58-46 win over Brewer.

“It helps having a lot of leaders on the team so we can get through the tough times,” Brown said. “We got it together and made a run.”

Ty Murphy pushes Lewiston’s count of seniors to double digits.

Such battle-tested teams aren’t normally overlooked. Imagine the Blue Devils’ surprise when KVAC coaches didn’t vote them among the preseason top eight in a 13-team league.

“The beginning of the year we all felt underrated,” Harris said. “Now that every team has played us, the coaches aren’t going to look past us, because they know we’re going to put up a fight.”

Brown might have been the quickest Blue Devil to brush off that sin of omission.

He was part of a Lewiston football team that entered the autumn with high expectations and went winless until its season finale against Edward Little.

“I just looked at it and kind of chuckled and laughed,” Brown said. “I don’t really pay attention to the preseason stuff. We learned that in football. We had high expectations if we came together and stayed healthy.”

Lewiston’s losses came in a bunches — a three-game skid around Christmas and New Year’s, followed by back-to-back battles with Edward Little and Oxford Hills in which the Devils played well enough to win.

Farrar saw a handful of disciplinary issues crop up during that midseason stretch. The sheer number of experienced options on the bench made his job easier.

“The one thing we decided early in the year was that we were going to hold them accountable as best we could, for their actions in the classroom and in the community and with the team. About halfway through the season we had to bench guys as much as any time in my career, but the last month I haven’t had to do that at all,” the coach said. “It’s just a maturity thing. I know I knew everything at that age too. I think they figured out I didn’t care. I had plenty of guys to play. They could watch if they had to.”

Top-to-bottom contributions have characterized the current four-game run.

Harris and Irish threw down monster dunks, back-to-back, as Lewiston avenged a loss to Bangor with a fourth-quarter surge. Curry hit a game-winning jumper with four seconds remaining at Cony. Chabot rained down three 3-pointers in a victory at Brunswick, foreshadowing the balanced, nine-man attack against Brewer.

“Our offense is getting better,” Curry said. “At the beginning of the season it was, alright, our defense will hold us, but now we have our defense and our offense. I think it’s going to be great.”

“That’s been the biggest thing: People finding their role,” Harris added. “At the beginning of the year people were taking shots, forcing shots, trying to score as many points as they can. The past few games, we’ve really been working as a team. Everybody’s been passing the ball, so it really helps.”

A rematch with Edward Little (14-1) next Thursday will give the Devils a chance to prepare for the playoff grind against another opponent with state title aspirations.

As sophomores, Harris, Curry and Brown saw significant time on a club that won a quarterfinal game in Augusta. The seniors have 46 career victories in all, but they have tried this season not to focus on the winning percentage in a league with an expansive middle class.

“I’ve had Isaiah talk to them about the cross country season. When you go to the Festival of Champions, does it matter who wins? You just know you’re going to be at the state meet,” Farrar said. “Well, we’re going to be at the state tournament. I don’t care how we get there. The road will take us there, and we’re going to be ready to go.”

With one, single-minded, senior-driven focus.

“We’re just looking for the Gold Ball,” Curry said. “It’s either that or nothing for us. We’ll be disappointed if we don’t.”

koakes@sunjournal.com