LEWISTON — Edward Little opened Saturday’s game on a 10-point scoring run and continued to roll on its way to a 65-37 Class AA North girls basketball victory over rival Lewiston.

“It feels good, my girls have been working hard,” said Edward Little coach Kristina Blais. “We’ve really been working on defense, and defense is our staple. I thought we executed well on offense, so it was a good game. We’ve had a tough stretch, so it was good to get back in the win column, for sure.”

Layla Facchiano, Rachel Penny and Jenny Chaput all put points on the board for the Red Eddies (4-5) before Lewiston’s Ella Beaudoin ended the run by hitting a 3-pointer from the right side with 4:15 remaining in the opening period.

Natalie Beaudoin followed with another basket for the Blue Devils (6-3) after rebounding her own missed shot.

Lewiston coach Josh Morin said the Blue Devils struggled with guarding the interior, as well as giving up rebounds to the Red Eddies, which he felt was the biggest contributor to the loss.

“We got out-rebounded severely, they scored to the interior where they wanted, and that caused a lot of matchup issues for us,” Morin said. “They kind of got us out of our rhythm early, and so we had to kind of change our game plan.”

Savannah Green, Facchiano and Hope Fontaine each added a basket for the Red Eddies, and Lewiston’s Ellie Legare scored at the buzzer to cut Edward Little’s lead to 16-7 after one quarter.

“This game means a lot because, like, we’re just over the bridge,” Facchiano said. “Everyone knows everyone, it’s such a thrill. You go into the game, you’re nervous, but it’s really fun, and we’re close with a couple of the girls, so it’s like a little nerve wracking.”

The second period was an offensive battle between the rivals, with the Red Eddies adding to their advantage by outscoring Lewiston 17-12.

Natalie Beaudoin started the scoring by sinking one of two free throws, which was quickly countered by Saphryn Humason-Fulgham’s 3-pointer for Edward Little.

Ella Beaudoin answered with a trey for the Blue Devils, and Koral Morin added another point, creating the tightest gap of the game at 20-14.

The Eddies scored the next five points to rebuild their lead. Natalie Beaudoin sank a 3-pointer for Lewiston to bring it to 17-25, but Facchiano answered with a trey, pushing Edward Little’s lead back to 11 points.

“For me, honestly, I just love the thrill,” Faucchiano said about scoring in all four quarters. “It’s exciting. I just want to have fun and I just leave it all out there. I love our coaches, they do everything for us, and they’ll do anything for us. They have my whole heart.”

Facchiano later set up the Red Eddies’ final points of the half. She encountered heavy pressure close to the rim, and unable to get a shot off, she passed the ball out to Penny.

At halftime, the Red Eddies led 33-19.

The third-quarter scoring was kicked off by by Edward Little’s Tess Robbins, who scored off a rebound 1:30 into the second half. Robbins and Chaput were a dynamic duo at the rim, grabbing several rebounds for the Red Eddies.

“They’ve been aiming for seven to 10 rebounds per game, and they’ve been doing that,” Blais said. “They had a couple of big finishes down the stretch, as well.”

Facchiano also scored on both free throws with three minutes left in the third. She was 4 for 4 at the line in the game.

“Our last couple practices, we’ve had this, I guess you could say session where we kind of just let it all out,” Faucchiano said. “We talked to each other, there was a little bit of tension, but we fixed it all and we’ve been really pushing each other in practice. So I think that’s why our offense went so well today.”

Fontaine went down with about two minutes left, after stealing the ball and taking it down the court. On her shot, she collided with a Lewiston player and hit the ground hard. Fontaine, a freshman, did not return.

“We do not know yet what’s wrong, but what I know about her is that when she does come back, she’ll be coming back stronger than ever,” Blais said.

Robbins continued to own the boards for Edward Little, scoring again after twice rebounding her own misses. Robbins and Facchiano each scored four points in the third, and going into the fourth the Red Eddies’ lead was up to 46-27.

Lewiston’s first points of the final quarter came on a nice Beaudoin-to-Beaudoin connection, as Natalie Beaudoin stole the ball and threw a long pass to Ella Beaudoin for a basket.

That made score 51-31. The Blue Devils only added six more points, while the Red Eddies tallied another 14.

Blais said the Red Eddies’ offensive execution allowed them to maintain control for all four quarters of the game.

Facchiano ended with a game-high 18 points. Penny made three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points, Tess Robbins had 13 points and Chaput scored seven.

Natalie Beaudoin led Lewiston with 15 points, while Ella Beaudoin had 11 and Koral Morin contributed nine.

Josh Morin said Saturday was not only a rivalry game, it came at the tail end of a competitive, busy week for Lewiston that included wins over Portland (49-39) on Tuesday and Windham (41-36) on Thursday. He said some of the Blue Devils “were not there mentally or physically,” in Saturday’s game.

“Coaching this rivalry, it feels different,” Morin said. “I mean, I went to school here, played here and both my kids came up with the same thing, so I understand what this game means to these kids. It feels like a state championship game for them, so emotionally, they’re usually a mess one way or the other.”

Blais said she thought her veteran players showed their experience in Saturday’s game.

“I thought Rachel (Penny) showed that she’s a leader today. She showed calmness when we needed it,” Blais said. “Layla (Faucchiano), obviously, did her thing as well. Tess (Robbins) and Jenny (Chaput) were on the boards, just showing their veteran. I thought that they all really stepped up today.”

Blais also said the Red Eddies have been having a tough stretch, including a 44-34 setback against Bangor 44-34 on Thursday. She said that despite the losses, the team has been hanging right in with “the best of the best,” and after today’s win, she hopes the team keeps the ball rolling to “squeeze another one out.”

The Blue Devils next face unbeaten Cheverus (8-0), which is ranked first in the Varsity Maine poll and the AA North Heal point standings, on Tuesday at home. The Red Eddies continue their tough schedule with a road game at Scarborough (7-2), which is second in AA South and third in the Varsity Maine poll.

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