Edward Little’s Darby Shea goes up for a layup as Oxford Hills’ Christopher St. Pierre and Atreyu Keniston reach in to stop him during the first half of their game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Tuesday. (Brewster Burns photo)

PORTLAND — Edward Little and Oxford Hills split their two regular-season meetings, but Tuesday’s AA North semifinal was all Edward Little from the opening tip.

The second-seeded Red Eddies raced out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back to defeat No. 3 Oxford Hills, 55-33, at Cross Insurance Arena.

Edward Little will face the winner of Tuesday’s other semifinal between Portland and Windham at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Cross Insurance Arena.

Darby Shea led all scorers with 22 points, while Wol Maiwen added 20 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and three steals for the Red Eddies (16-4). Colton Carson led Oxford Hills (13-7) with 10 points.

“We knew we had everything to lose,” Maiwen said. “We knew anything can happen in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the playoffs is kind of a kill or be killed situation”

Maiwen put an exclamation point on the opening run with a steal and breakaway dunk that electrified the maroon-and-white partisans. Oxford Hills never recovered.

“That’s a great way to start the game, but we’ve had games start out like that against us, too,” Shea said. “Our biggest thing in the beginning of the season was we used to come out really slow, so it was huge for us to come out big tonight, be aggressive, get transition buckets, everything.”

“(The start) kind of typified what happened to us today — silly turnovers, missed shots that sometimes you make,” Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam said. “You can’t explain it. I’ve had other experience like this — we got shut out last year against Portland for a quarter. You come to this big venue, you never know how kids are going to react.”

The Vikings shot 0-for-7 from the floor and didn’t get on the board until a pair of Carson free throws nearly four minutes in. He added another free throw, but an Ibn Khalid floater gave the Eddies a 13-3 lead at the end of the quarter.

“We thought Carson was the key,” Adams said. “He does so many different things with the ball, and we did some things defensively that took the ball out of his hands. I thought Khalid did a great job on him, face-guarding him, denying him and not letting him get easy catches.”

Atreyu Keniston hit a jumper to get the Vikings into the make column early in the second. Layups by Chris St. Pierre sandwiched around a Khalid trey pulled Oxford Hills within 20-11, but Shea drilled a 3-pointer for a 12-point EL lead at halftime.

“Defensively, that was definitely our strongest game,” Shea said. “If we play like that again next game, I think we’ll come out with a ‘W.'”

“We didn’t press once, and we’ve been a pressing team all year,” Adams said. “But we knew we had to defend in the quarter court. We knew we had to rebound, and take away the first two minutes of the game, we did a much better job rebounding.”

 EL removed any doubt with a 19-6 third quarter. Once again, it was Maiwen who added a little extra to the run, blocking a shot at the top of the 3-point arc, recovering the ball and dribbling to the other end for a three-point play that made it 33-14.

“They’re competitors and they’re tough kids, and they’re not going to be intimidated,” Adams said of Oxford Hills. “We really wanted to make sure we finished it off.”

“(Wol’s defensive presence) is a problem any time you play them,” Graffam said. “Mike had a great game plan. He just sat him in the middle and said ‘Come try to take a shot at the rim.’ We got some decent shots. We didn’t make an outside shot in the first half, and that’s the issue.”

Edward Little’s Ibn Khalid looks for an open teammate as he gets around Oxford Hills’ Colton Carson during the first half of their game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Tuesday. (Brewster Burns photo)Edward Little’s Ibn Khalid executes a no-look pass as he’s guarded by Oxford Hills’ Christopher St. Pierre, right, and Colton Carson during the first half of their game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Tuesday. (Brewster Burns photo)Oxford Hills’ Spencer Strong, Atreyu Keniston and Colton Carson attempt to get the ball away from Edward Little’s Wol Maiwen during the first half of their game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Tuesday. (Brewster Burns photo)Edward Little’s Wol Maiwen dunks the ball in the first half of a game against Oxford Hills at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Tuesday.Edward Little’s Austin Brown attempts to evade Oxford Hills’ Spencer Strong and Atreyu Keniston after getting a rebound during the second half of their game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Tuesday. (Brewster Burns photo)Oxford Hills’ Spencer Strong tries to get around Edward Little’s Austin Brown during the second half of their game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Tuesday. (Brewster Burns photo)Oxford Hills’ Atreyu Keniston, right, and Spencer Strong battle for a rebound against Edward Little’s Tyler Morin during the second half of their game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Tuesday. (Brewster Burns photo)

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