SOUTH PARIS – The Oxford Hills girls’ basketball team missed its first 14 shots, shot 4-for-35 in the first half and turned the ball over nearly a dozen times.

In other words, the Vikings had Mt. Ararat right where it wanted them Saturday afternoon.

After sputtering through much of the first half offensively, the Vikings were still tied at the half. Oxford Hills knew that if it could find the offensive consistency to match its defense, everything would be fine.

“That’s the way our games have been all year,” said Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier. “All three we played great defense. This team had 15 points. Brunswick had 16, and Morse had 16 at halftime. If you can keep a team to 15 or 16 points in a half, you’re doing really well. Our offense, for some reason, takes awhile to get going. When it does, they really get after it and play hard.”

The Vikings settled down in the third quarter and broke the game open with a dominant fourth in a 45-29 victory. Oxford Hills (2-1) outscored Mt. Ararat 21-8 in the final quarter.

“The fourth quarter is always our quarter,” said junior forward Megan Joyce. “Whether we’re down or if we’re up, we’re always going to get up on you and get turnovers. We might not always win, but in the fourth quarter, we turn it on.”

Junior guard Lindsay Fox led the charge in the fourth. She had eight of her team-high 11 points in that stretch. Joyce finished with 10, despite missing part of the fourth after banging her hip in a fall. She missed games last year to a hip injury.

The Vikings forced eight turnovers and allowed just four shots in the first four minutes of the final quarter. The Eagles had 14 turnovers in the last quarter.

“At some point, we’ve got to go with a defensive squad and press a little bit,” said Pelletier, who was met with a locker room full of balloons and party horns to celebrate his birthday following the victory. “We have some post players that are very quick and agile. So we go to them, and they can finish.”

Oxford Hills took a 24-21 lead after three when Lauren Brett hit a 3-pointer. The Vikings started the fourth with 12 straight. A Fox drive led to a three-point play. After two Allison Nolan free throws, Caitlin Hanley converted a steal. Nolan followed with another steal and basket. Another Fox drive to the hoop led to a three-point play and 36-21 lead with 5:55 left.

“In the first half, I think we’re so amped,” said Joyce. “When we start to slow down and play basketball as we can, we’re okay as everyone’s seen. Sometimes it takes awhile to get rid of the jitters.”

The Vikings added baskets by Mindy Rugg, Joyce and Brooke Ladd to maintain the lead.

Mt. Ararat got 12 from Hannah Fenwick but battled foul trouble in the second half. Brie Martin and Amber Bowley fouled out while Fenwick finished with four fouls.

Despite missing its first 14 shots in the first quarter, the Vikings took an 8-7 lead when Melanie Cloutier hit a late 3-pointer. The Eagles’ eight turnovers gave Oxford Hills time to get the offense going. The Vikings, which shot 1-for-16 in the second quarter, got free throws late in the half from Fox, Brett and Nolan to tie the game at 15-15.

“I think we had the opportunities in the first half,” said Pelletier. “We just weren’t making layups. We missed a lot of layups, missed put backs and missed foul shots. In the long run, we knew they were going to fall.”