Girls basketball: Oxford Hills overtakes Lewiston in second half

LEWISTON — Oxford Hills battled back in the second half and squeaked out a 57-52 girls basketball win over Lewiston on Friday.

Vikings junior Ella Pelletier was the game’s top scorer with 18 points overall.

“We’ve been coming off a couple close games that we just can’t finish, and so now to be able to finish one of these games, it feels really good for us,” Pelletier said.

Lewiston (8-5) led the scoring in the first quarter, tallying 21 points. Koral Morin contributed 13 of her team-high 16 points in the first eight minutes. She also block a shot later in the quarter, and Ella Beaudoin made two steals in the first three minutes of the game, earning extra offensive opportunities for the Blue Devils.

On the flipside, the Vikings (5-5) scored 16 points in a combined effort by Pelletier, Gabbie Tibbetts and Maddy Miller.

“They came out, and they were on fire,” Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier said of Lewiston. “We couldn’t figure it out, but I thought that in the second half, we played a lot harder and were able to hit some shots.”

Ella Pelletier said the first half started slow for the Vikings because of their lack of intensity compared to Lewiston. She said the team has “got to know our 3-point shooters,” and make adjustments for smarter scoring opportunities.

Lewiston coach Josh Morin said he expected Friday’s game to be as close as it was scoring-wise, but the Vikings were just able to finish on more shots than the Blue Devils.

“I mean, shots were just falling,” Morin said about the first quarter. “I mean, we got some of the same looks in the second half, and it was just kind of a story of (the) first half was ours, second half was theirs, and they hit a few more shots tonight.”

The second quarter was another close battle, with Lewiston adding 15 points and Oxford Hills scoring 11. Josh Morin said the key to the Blue Devils winning both quarters was Koral Morin’s points, offensive ball movement and transitions.

“What worked well early was, I’d probably say Koral (Morin) got going,” Josh Morin said. “We moved the basketball, we were able to rebound, get out and transition. We broke their press early, which kind of helped, and Koral hit some big shots early gave us that lead.”

Tibbetts ended the first half with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, bringing the score to 36-27 at the half, with the Blue Devils still on top.

Oxford Hills’ Milo Seams played solid defense in the second quarter. She said she recognized the need for a strong defender, so she stepped up.

“In (the) second quarter, I locked down on defense and realized we had to win, so I just locked down,” Seams said. “I felt like the second quarter we really came together and brought up the energy.”

That energy help as the Vikings picked up their offensive opportunities early in the third, and ultimately scored 18 points in the quarter. Tibbetts added two more 3-pointers to complement her two first-half treys.

“I think we put a little bit of pressure on them,” Nate Pelletier said. “We talked about if we’re taking the ball out of the net, we can’t push the tempo, we can’t get the shots we want; so it was really focusing more on the defensive and rebounding, playing good defense. I think our offense really fed off of that.”

Seams and Lewiston’s Bailey Tardiff-Mockler led the rebounding efforts for their respective teams in the second half.

“Bailey comes off the bench, she gives us good energy, she’s always flying in for rebounds,” Josh Morin said, “doing what she can to help the team win. So Bailey gave a good effort.”

Seams said she gets nervous during tight games like Friday night, but knew the team could work together to pull out a win.

“Every single day, we talk about kids who got to step up, I thought Milo stepped up, I thought Maddie Herrick stepped up, as well,” Nate Pelletier said. “We have these kids that can step into roles. I thought Maddie Miller came out and had an amazing game. As a whole, it’s just finding what works for us, and every game so far, it’s been a little different.”

Josh Morin said there was not much that went well for the Blue Devils in the second half, and he felt like they lost their energy as the game went on, which likely can be attributed to the increase in missed shots.

“I think it’s just when you don’t hit shots, it tends to take a little bit energy away from you,” Josh Morin said. “Especially when they’re coming back and the momentum shifts, it just seems like nothing’s working, so it’s a little harder to get that second wind back when you’re not making shots.”

Josh Morin also said a couple of careless turnovers in the second half hurt the Blue Devils because it allowed the Vikings to capitalize on offense. Despite that, he said he tries not to ask the team to be perfect, and this game was a good lesson to build off of going into the remainder of their schedule.

“I think we’re in the stretch of games, where all of us can beat anybody,” Pelletier said. “We came out on top today. We play them (Lewiston) in a couple of weeks again, we’ll see what happens.”

The fourth quarter started with Oxford Hills leading 45-43. The Vikings were able to retain the lead for the remainder of the game, even with Lewiston battling back and putting points on the board.

With the score being as close as it was, Ella Pelletier said it was stressful, but the defending Class AA state champion Vikings were prepared.

“It’s definitely a lot of pressure, but we’ve been in those situations before, like in our regional game last year,” Ella Pelletier said. “We just know how to work through those, and it’s really helped us this season. We got to keep up this intensity. We can’t just go from one win and then go on a downhill, we got to keep the intensity high and keep working.”

Ella Pelletier finished with a game-high 18 points. Miller and Tibbetts each scored 16.

Nate Pelletier said while Ella Pelletier contributing the most points, she “could care less,” about that statistic.

“Ella just does a lot for us,” he said. “We ask her to do a lot for us, and there’s a lot on her shoulders. I’m super proud of how hard she worked today, and I know it’s all about winning for her, she could care less about the points.”

Defensively, Ella Pelletier said the Vikings found success with the new press, Blue. The team instituted because it allowed for several steals and added pressure on the Blue Devils.

Nate Pelletier said he hopes to see more of Oxford Hills’ second-half style of play during the remainder of the regular season.

“We have got to build off of it, so I think it’s more of a consistency, like come out and play like that all the time,” he said. “I think we can beat a lot of teams, and you know, overall, it’s just you got to make shots and we got to get in the gym and shoot smart.”