FARMINGTON — Evans Sterling is the Mt. Blue boys basketball team’s lone returning starter and the only player with significant varsity experience prior to this season.

He’s also the Cougars’ best player and one of the best in the state. In the huddle near the end of a close game against Edward Little on Tuesday, Sterling was the most confident that Mt. Blue was going to win.

The Cougars did, fighting off the Red Eddies 52-49 to improve to 2-0.

“Towards the end of the game, he was the one on the bench that was saying to everybody, ‘We got this. We’re fine, we got this,’” Mt. Blue coach Troy Norton said.

Sterling, despite facing double-teams as soon as he crossed midcourt, scored a team-high 20 points. But his young teammates also stepped up late in the game.

“I was really excited to see at the end, as good of a player as Evans was, it was actually other kids that made the plays at the end,” Norton said. “Nolan Leso had that huge offensive rebound putback, Carter Norton hit that 3 from the corner that was huge.

“But that guy right there,” Troy Norton said as he pointed to Sterling, “was dynamic. I mean, he played 32 minutes, guarded their best player, rebounded, and his defense was outstanding, handled the ball the entire game. He’s just a phenomenal player.”

Mt. Blue doubled up Edward Little in the first half, 30-15, but Eli St. Laurent led the Red Eddies (1-1) back into the game in the third.

St. Laurent scored 11 points in the quarter, which he finished with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to get Edward Little within two points, 42-40.

St. Laurent hit another trey early in the fourth to give the Red Eddies their first lead of the game. Diing Maiwen added a basket to put them up 45-42 less than a minute into the quarter.

Sterling made a 3 for Mt. Blue to even the score at 45-45, and the Cougars and Red Eddies played each other tight the remainder of the game.

Tyler Abell made a pair of free throws for the Cougars to tie the game again at 47-47, then Mt. Blue took the lead for good when Norton nailed a 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes remaining.

“Carter Norton, he’s a shooter,” Sterling said. “If he’s left open, he’ll make that every time.”

Abell added nine points, Tucker Fitch and Norton each had eight and Leso contributed seven.

“Everyone thinks we’re young this year, but we’re deep,” Sterling said. “We’ve got some talented young players.”

“It was a little too close for comfort in the second half,” Troy Norton said. “But it’s a good experience for our kids to — you know, we need to learn how to win close games.”

St. Laurent topped all scorers with 22 points, including 18 in the second half.

“He’s a really good athlete,” Edward Little coach Mike Adams said. “He’s an all-state soccer goalie, and he’s quick, he’s strong, he’s aggressive, and he took some opportunities that were available by getting to the paint.”

Maiwen scored 12 points and Marshal Adams finished with nine on three 3-pointers.

“Evans’ defense, I think, was the key,” Troy Norton said. “I don’t know how many Marshal had — Marshal’s a great player — and Evans really worked hard coming off all those screens for Marshal and, yeah, good effort overall.”

COUGARS ON THE ATTACK

Despite Edward Little’s strong second half, after the game Mike Adams was more focused on the first two quarters.

“I remember more the first half than the recovery in the second,” Mike Adams said. “We should be a much better team than what we showed tonight. To get down 15 points in the first half — or, I think we cut it to 15 at the end — there’s no excuse for that.”

Four second-quarter 3-pointers — two early in the period and two near the end — helped Mt. Blue build its first-half cushion.

Norton, who made 2 of 3 free throws after he was fouled at the buzzer in the first quarter, opened the scoring in the second with a trey to give the Cougars a 17-8 lead.

Soon after a basket by St. Laurent, Sterling drained a 3 to make it 20-10 about a minute into the second.

In the final two minutes of the half, Sterling, who had 13 in the first half, and Fitch hit 3-pointers to push the Cougars’ advantage to 30-13.

St. Laurent added a basket before halftime, cutting the Red Eddies’ deficit to 30-15.

“The first half, we were just moving the ball well,” Sterling said. “Everyone was getting touches, in and out, and they couldn’t stop us.”

The Red Eddies started hitting their shots in the third quarter and held the Cougars to four field goals.

St. Laurent made three 3s in his 11-point showing in the third, and Diing Maiwen added seven points. Edward Little outscored Mt. Blue 25-12 in the quarter to get back in the game.

“I think we just got a little stagnant offensively,” Troy Norton said. “The second half, the ball was sticking. Plus, they just started making shots. I mean, a lot of the same shots we gave up in the first half, they made in the second half.”

GLASS HALF FULL OR EMPTY

Both coaches said rebounding played an important role in Tuesday’s outcome.

“I do want to also mention, Charles Stevens … didn’t score a point, but he played his butt off,” Troy Norton said. “I think he had eight offensive rebounds, played great defense. So he was really an unsung hero tonight.”

Mike Adams said Mt. Blue earned its rebounds.

“Mt. Blue just played harder than us,” he said. “You know, they killed us on the offensive glass. They’re not bigger, they’re not stronger, they just played harder. So our guys just have to make a decision of, ‘Are we going to rebound and limit second-chance opportunities? Are we going to create second-chance opportunities?’

“It’s early in the year, but we should be a much better team than what we showed tonight.”

Edward Little next faces Portland, while Mt. Blue goes against Messalonskee.

“We haven’t lost yet. We’re undefeated so far,” Sterling said. “I think that as the season goes on, we’re going to get better. We’re young right now, but we’re getting better every day.”

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