AUBURN — With savvy that belies its youth, the Bangor girls basketball team continued its unbeaten start to the season by defeating Edward Little 44-34 in a Class AA North contest Thursday.

The Red Eddies (3-5) were undeterred by a slow start to the game and a two-point second quarter. They fought their way back into the contest and led for a good chunk of the third period, but the Rams (7-0) regained the lead by scoring eight straight points late in the third and built a cushion with a 10-0 run in the fourth.

“It was a grind,” Bangor coach Jay Kemble said. “It was a really physical game, you know, on both sides. Both teams were physical. They were aggressive. You know, you got two really athletic teams. Edward Little’s got some good guard play. They’ve got some good inside play. So it was a grind for us.”

Bangor’s 14-player roster includes nine underclassmen. Three sophomores and one freshman were among the seven players who saw time in Wednesday’s contest.

“It’s a great group … it’s a really smart group, an intelligent group,” Kemble said. “They do what you ask, they play extremely — our practices are tough sometimes …

“You know, as young as we are, all of those kids that are on the floor tonight, played against Emmie Streams, Abbie Quinn,” Kemble said, referring to the top two players on last year’s Class AA North semifinalist team. “They practiced against them all last year, so they played against really good players. They just had to bide their time until they were able to get on the court.”

One of the sophomores, Dalaney Horr, led the Rams with 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior Mimi Quinn tallied 11 points, including 7-of-9 shooting from the free-throw line, and 10 rebounds.

“For us, she’s the leader,” Kemble said of Quinn. “She’s been through the wars before, she forces the other team to have to defend the middle. She is an elite inside player who can also play outside.”

Edward Little’s Layla Facchiano hit four 3-pointers and topped all scorers with 14 points.

Facchiano drained two of those 3s in the first two minutes of the third to turn a 19-14 halftime deficit into a 20-19 lead, Edward Little’s first of the game.

“Layla’s incredible,” Red Eddies coach Kristina Blais said. “She plays the cat-and-mouse game, as far as attacking versus dishing it off, versus hitting the 3, and she can score on all three levels. She’s an extreme threat on the floor.”

Bangor, which is ranked second in the first Varsity Maine poll of the season, soon tied the game, but Rachel Penny was left open in the right corner on an inbound play and hit a 3 to put the Eddies back on top, 23-20.

Facchiano made a pair of free throws to make the lead 25-22 with 2:50 remaining in the third, but 10 seconds later she was whistled for her fourth foul and spent the rest of the quarter on the bench.

Horr tied the game with a trey to start an 8-0 Rams run that lasted until Edward Little’s Tess Robbins made a free throw with one-tenth of a second left in the period, which concluded with Bangor holding a 30-26 advantage.

“We persevered through, you know, in the third quarter they came in and they made some early shots. They had like a three- or four-point lead. Our girls didn’t fold,” Kemble said.

The Rams overcame similar adversity Tuesday against Oxford Hills. They were held to two points in the second quarter and trailed 24-9 at halftime, but then outscored the Vikings 20-2 in the third quarter and earned a 44-38 win.

Kemble said that missed shots can change the dynamics of a game. Bangor, though young, is able and willing to lean on its defense and hasn’t panicked when its offense goes cold.

“So can you persevere and play through those times where you’re not scoring? Can you go back and defend?” Kemble said. “We’re a tremendous defensive team. We’re only giving up 30 points a game, so, you know, we know how to play defense, we know how to box out, we know how to rebound and limit the other team to fewer opportunities.”

The 38 points Oxford Hills scored Tuesday and the 34 Edward Little had Thursday are the two highest totals against the Rams this season.

Facchiano re-entered Wednesday’s game two minutes into the fourth quarter and soon thereafter hit a 3-pointer that put the Eddies within two points, 31-29.

The Rams then found an offensive rhythm and reeled off the next 10 points that pushed their lead to 41-29 before Penny’s trey ended Edward Little’s drought.

“I thought we did great,” Blais said. “Bangor is a good squad. Our energy was great. We just missed a couple of big shots and Bangor capitalized.”

Penny finished with six points. Jenny Chaput grabbed seven rebounds for the Red Eddies, and Robbins had six. Freshman Hope Fontaine made five steals.

Bangor sophomore Avery Clark contributed nine points and five rebounds to the victory. Junior Emily Adams scored six points.

“Really one of the unsung heroes for us is Emily Adams,” Kemble said. “She gets big baskets, but she plays great defense, she rebounds, she can handle the ball. She does everything really, really well.”

RAMS JUMP AHEAD

Bangor controlled the first part of the opening quarter by spreading the ball around. Four starters combined to score the Rams’ first eight points and midway through the quarter they led 10-3.

The Red Eddies fought their way back into the game with an 8-3 run highlighted by 3-pointers from Savannah Green and Facchiano.

“We did not change anything. We just made sure that our mindsets were right,” Blais said. “We always say next play and take it one quarter at a time. The girls know not to be looking at the scoreboard and just do their job, keep their heads. And they did that.”

At the end of the first quarter, Bangor led 15-12.

Kali Snowden scored a bucket early in the second to make it 17-12. That score remained intact until Chaput made a pair of free throws for Edward Little with 45 seconds left in the first half.

Quinn added bucket in the post for the Rams, who went into the break with a 19-14 advantage. Bangor scored only four points and Edward Little just two in the second period.

The Red Eddies next face rival Lewiston (6-2) — which defeated Windham 41-36 on Wednesday — on the road Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Blais said she is happy with how Edward Little has played so far this season, noting that they’ve played a difficult schedule that has included some of the top teams in AA South — the Eddies are one of only two teams to beat Gorham — and A South leader Brunswick.

“I like where we’re at right now,” Blais said. “We typically always have a really tough schedule. Same thing last year. And, you know, we take it one game at a time — and every game, every loss is just preparing us for the next.”

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