AA North boys basketball: Edward Little shoots past Lewiston and earns spot in regional final

PORTLAND — Marshal Adams missed all 10 of his shots in Edward Little’s final regular season game, a double-overtime win over rival Lewiston.

The sophomore’s shooting touch returned Thursday and helped the Red Eddies defeat the Blue Devils 68-55 in a Class AA North boys basketball semifinal at Cross Insurance Arena.

Top-seeded Edward Little (18-2) advances to the regional final where it will face second-seeded Oxford Hills (17-3) on Saturday at 3:45 p.m., again at Cross Insurance Arena.

Adams missed his first two 3-pointers early in Thursday’s game and went scoreless in the first quarter. Fourth-seeded Lewiston (14-6) seized on the misses and took a 13-9 lead into the second.

With four minutes left in the first half, Adams received a long pass from John Shea and made his first 3-pointer of the game to give the Red Eddies a 17-15 lead, its first since one minute into the game.

Adams hit five more 3-pointers without a miss and finished the game with 20 points.

“Ever since I was little I’ve just put up hundreds of shots a day, and I’ve done the math and I’ve taken over one million shots in my life,” Adams said. “It’s just, you see Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, where they’ll go 0-for-9 but the next game could go 9-for-12. So I keep that in my mind that if I’m shooting 40 percent and then I go 0-for-9, then I am due for a big game. The stats don’t lie. That felt great to see those shots go in.”

After every missed shot during the Red Eddies’ double-overtime victory in the regular season finale, Adam’s teammates encouraged him to continue to shoot. The did likewise during Thursday’s semifinal.

“The biggest thing was getting his confidence up and making him feel like we still wanted him to shoot, even if he was missing, because he was going to shoot like he did tonight,” Shea said.

“I’m going to step out of (being a) coach and say as a dad that I’m proud of him, because he’s struggled with that his whole life,” Edward Little coach Mike Adams said. “He’s taken a million in his lifetime. That’s not an exaggeration, we have the numbers — legit, a million shots. He went through a hard time where he thought he’d make everything and he didn’t know how to relax and just shoot.

“To be able to do what he did, because he’s struggled the last couple games, then came out today and missed his first couple, but then they started to fall. He’s shot 40 percent all year, and so if he goes 0-for-10 then that means he’s going to do well soon.”

Edward Little took control of the game in the second quarter thanks to Adam’s three 3-pointers as well as five points from Pat Anthoine and four from Shea. The Red Eddies outscored the Blue Devils 20-6 in the period and took a 29-19 lead into halftime.

Adams hit three more 3-pointers in the third and Eli St. Laurent added five points to help Edward Little’s lead grow to as high as 19 points in the third before the quarter ended at 51-36.

Lewiston’s Malik Foster scored four of his 15 points in the third, while Eli Bigelow scored four of his 12 in the period.

The Blue Devils kept battling in the fourth quarter and were able to cut the deficit to 58-51 with 3:10 left in the game.

“I thought our kids showed a lot of heart, lot of fight, and I thought we showed up kind of late to the dance,” Lewiston coach Elgin Physic said. “I am proud of the kids and they accomplished a lot.”

Two free throws from St. Laurent brought the score to 60-51. They were followed by a full-court drive that Shea finished with a layup to make the lead 62-51 with 2:12 left.

Shea scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth to help the Red Eddies secure the win.

“As selfish as it sounds, I was trying to put the game away,” Shea said of his fourth quarter effort. “Whether that was taking it to the hoop myself or taking the ball further up the court and making things happen off of that. My teammates did a great job hitting shots over the course of the game in order for it to open up for me. Some coaches might prepare for just me, or just me and Marshal, but we have a lot of pieces.”

The senior, who on Wednesday was named as a Mr. Maine Basketball semifinalist, also grabbed 11 rebounds on Thursday.

Lewiston’s David Omasombo, another Mr. Basketball semifinalist, hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with 10 points. Sophomore guard Yusuf Dakane scored five of his seven points in the fourth. The two Lewiston guards were a big focus for Edward Little’s defense.

“Stopping their dribble penetration. That was huge for us because David and Yusuf are lightning and we had to keep them out of the paint,” Mike Adams said. “In the fourth we just self-destructed and we have a tendency to do that. We need to value the ball and know that when we get in the half-court we are really hard to guard.”

Physic said he is proud of the Blue Devils and the season they had.

“I just am proud of them and how they represented the city,” Physic said. “Obviously, we get a bad reputation because of things that happen in the city, but these kids are a special group. They’ve been a bright spot in the school. Everywhere we’ve gone everyone says we have great kids, refs have said that, and at the end of the day that’s what I’m proud of. I know we lost, but I am proud that we’ve gotten these kids on the right track for when they graduate high school.”