LEWISTON — Keep making hustle plays and doing the little things.

That was Lewiston boys basketball coach Elgin Physic’s message to his team after a 56-52 win over Portland in a Class AA North game on Thursday.

Physic believes things that don’t appear in the box score will help the Blue Devils (5-4) come together in the second half of the season.

“We’re trying to keep bonding as a team and just worry about those little things that turn out to be big things,” Physic said. “That’s what we try to emphasize with the guys. Those things help you out to win in the end. So we’ve been really trying to tell those guys, even though we call them little things, are actually big things. Making extra possessions for us to score, setting a screen, extra hustle points, that carries over for a win.”

Lewiston made hustle plays throughout the game. Lonnie Thomas took a charge early in the third quarter. Grayson Bernard had seven rebounds off the bench, something Physic said was huge for the Blue Devils. Abdirahman Dakane blocked a 3-point attempt by Portland (5-3) at the end of the game.

Adam Zeininger said the Blue Devils need that kind of effort every night.

“Yeah, we had a couple of our guys come off the bench, get good rebounds, box out well, play good defense, and that’s what we need every night,” Zeininger said. “Night in and night out, we just need our guys to do the little things and that’s how we’re always successful.”

Thomas said teams that work together are hard to beat.

“We learned that we have a lot of bench depth, and when we move the ball around, we’re really a tough team to stop,” Thomas said. “When we get our press going and we really keep moving as a team, we’re much better off.”

For Lewiston, working as a team means finding open teammates on cuts to the basket.

“Our passing and our offense is really good because we all have individual players who are really skilled,” Dakane said. “So when we all individually try to go 1-on-1 or just try doing too much, it doesn’t work. But when we all play together and move the ball around, cut, screen for each other, it really works and it’s great for our offense.”

Dakane said the balanced-scoring attack Lewiston showed against Portland is also important to the Blue Devils’ success. Dakane and Thomas each had 13 points, while Zeininger added 12.

Zeininger said the Blue Devils are learning to finish out close games. In addition to their win against Portland, Lewiston has a 54-52 win against Freeport this season.

“Yeah, we always manage to close out these close games,” Zeininger said. “I mean, not always, but a lot of the time we can come together, play together, and pick up our heads, especially when we need to.”

Thomas said if the Blue Devils continue to work together, they can get on a run.

“We learned that we have better trust in each other, and the more we can trust each other, the better off we are as a team,” Thomas said. “The better teams in the state have more trust in each other and that helps them win better games.”

Lucas LeGage led the Bulldogs with 15 points.