AUGUSTA — By the time the Edward Little girls’ basketball team had the chance to settle in and get down to business Monday night, the Red Eddies were already in a hole.

Skowhegan burst out to a double-digit lead to start the KVAC Championship game at Cony High School. Though EL managed to regroup a bit and get within striking distance numerous times, the Indians never relinquished the lead, holding on for a 48-41 win.

The victory avenged Skowhegan’s loss to EL last year in the conference game. The Indians later lost to Messalonskee in the Eastern A final.

“It is what it is,” said Skowhegan coach Heath Cowan, whose 18-0 club enters the tournament at the top-seed again this year. “No one knocked anyone out of the tournament today. We have a mantra that no one game is going to define our season, but the kids are excited. You play 18 games for the right to play in this game and give the kids an opportunity to win.”

For EL, it was a chance to continue playing and fine-tune. The Red Eddies lost four of its last five games after losing senior point-guard Kirsten Prue, the KVAC South Player of the Year, to injury. At 13-5, EL managed to hold onto the second seed and earn a spot in Monday’s game.

“We thought it was so important to make it to this game because we needed our kids to get the experience,” said EL coach Craig Jipson, whose team now has just two seniors. “We played our kids right to the end because these were kids that need that experience on the floor. They haven’t had that game-time, and they needed that game-time.”

EL fell behind 10-0 right from the start. Though the Red Eddies got within five once in the first quarter and twice in the second, they couldn’t get closer. Skowhegan opened the game up to as many as 16 in the second half.

“The kids came out with great energy,” said Cowan. “We spaced the floor well. We ran some set plays that we’ve talked about and were working on.”

Whitney Jones led the Indians with 12 points while Liz Noddin added 10. Amanda Johnson and Kenzie Smith each chipped in eight. Freshman Ashlee Arnold led EL with 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Kayla Cummings added 12.

“Ashlee really stepped up,” said Jipson. “She just played great. She played like a warrior and really played great.”

Noddin hit a pair of baskets and Smith added four points for an 8-0 lead. When Jones converted a steal, the lead was up to 10-0. EL had nine turnovers in the first quarter and struggled to settle down.

“We just had to gear in on our defense,” said Cummings. “Our offense will come with the personnel we have. We just had to focus on things we weren’t doing well and correct them as quickly as possible and turn it around.”

A rebound and a 3-pointer by Arnold cut the lead to five, but the Indians managed to keep the lead at seven or nine the rest of the quarter. In the second quarter, EL did a better job defensively, holding the Indians to just six points.  Skowhegan shot just 1-for-8 to start, but the Red Eddies couldn’t answer, shooting 1-for-13 themselves. Some poor shot selection, and ELs’ inability to utilize its post presence hampered their cause Two late 3-pointers by Arnold cut the lead down to five points twice to make it 24-19 at the half.

Skowhegan started the second half with five straight points on a basket and free throw by Smith and a corner jumper by Noddin. A 13-3 run, aided by five points from Johnson, had the lead up to 37-22.

“I thought we came out at the beginning of each quarter and really executed well,” said Cowan.

Skowhegan had the advantage up to 47-31 in the fourth. EL ran off 10 straight in the final minutes, including some against Skowhegan’s bench, much to the Indians chagrin.

“All we could do is keep chipping away and chipping away and not try to take the lead with one huge basket,” said Cummings. “I think we did well to work it to as close as we did.”

EL will play seventh-ranked Hampden in Friday’s quarterfinals at the Augusta Civic Center while Skowhegan plays eighth-seeded Oxford Hills.