AUGUSTA — One moment, Edward Little was threatening to run away with its second straight Eastern Class A championship. The next, Brewer was running circles around the Red Eddies.

Slowly,  Edward Little collected its poise, summoned its experience, and gathered its courage, and found a way to give its 2009 title some company.

No. 2 EL squandered a 15-point lead in the second quarter, then erased an eight-point deficit in the fourth to defeat No. 1 Brewer, 59-55, at the Augusta Civic Center Friday night. The Red Eddies (19-2) will try to win their first state title since 1946 when they meet the winner of tonight’s Western A final between Cheverus and Westbrook. The state championship is at 7 p.m. next Saturday.

“Because it’s my senior year, (winning Eastern Maine) is definitely better than last year,” said senior center James Philbrook. “But hopefully it turns out better, too.”

Yusuf Iman finished with a game-high 22 points, including the free throw that put the Eddies in front to stay with 1:12 remaining and four more clutch freebies that salted the game away. Timmy Mains added 12 points and Bo Leary, the tournament’s MVP, 11 points. Philbrook played an outstanding all around game, finishing with nine points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Dom Drake led Brewer (17-4) with 16 points and five steals while Ray Bessette added 14 points.

Brewer went on a 32-10 run in the second and third quarters and led 50-42 on a basket by Nate Carson 35 seconds into the fourth quarter. That would be the Witches’ last field goal for nearly six minutes as the Red Eddies went into a triangle-and-two defense on Bessette and Drake.

“We said we couldn’t get beat off of dribble penetration because that’s what makes them so much better,” EL coach Mike Adams said. “Once we tried to take just those two away and covered our areas a little bit better.”

EL, which beat Brewer three times previously this season, chipped away at the lead over the next five minutes. They pulled within one when Leary found Philbrook underneath for a hoop with 2:25 remaining. After a Brewer free throw, Mains came up with a steal and got fouled going to the hoop. The junior guard sank both free throws to tie it with 1:35 to go.

Drake gave the Witches their final lead on a leaner with 1:28 left. Drake was fouled, but missed the free throw, opening the door for EL to tie it again on a Leary layup with 1:19 left. Iman was fouled after a Brewer turnover, and sank one of two from the line to put the Eddies up to stay with 1:12 to go.

The teams exchanged turnovers, then Carson front-rimmed a 15-footer to tie it. Leary rebounded and got the ball to Iman, who was fouled with 18.2 seconds left. The senior guard cooly sank both to make it 58-55. Drake drove to the basket but was called for charging with 11 seconds left, and Iman clinched it two seconds later with two more free throws.

That the game would come down to such tense moments seemed unlikely, if not impossible, in the early going. With Philbrook distributing the ball from the perimeter, EL carved up Brewer’s defense and roared out to a 21-7 lead late in the first quarter on 10-for-16 shooting. The Eddies’ lead spiked on Iman’s layup with 3:25 left in the first half, then a bizarre play turned the emotional tide in Brewer’s favor.

Late in the second quarter, Brewer turned the ball over and Iman tried to take a defender one-on-one to the hoop. The defender lifted his led to stop Iman and kicked him, unintentionally, in the face. The whistle blew, and after a conference, Iman was called for traveling.

“I just couldn’t understand (the call),” Adams said. “As a coach, I always see every call a little bit different anyway, but I think there was about 3,000 people who saw that call the way that we saw it.”

Blake Birmingham 3-pointer immediately after the call made it 30-21 Brewer. The Witches’ defensive intensity picked up and their pressure began to rattle the Eddies (12 first-half turnovers) as the lead shrank to six at halftime on a Birmingham putback to beat the buzzer.

“We picked up our pressure, and I think the kids showed what kind of composure and what kind of heart they can play with when we play some defense,” Brewer coach Ben Goodwin said. “They got after it and they made that run by playing defense.”

“When they start getting it going defensively, they come up about 100 notches,” Adams said. “Defensively, they brought their intensity up, they start hitting shots, and they’re a dangerous team.”

Brewer’s momentum carried into the second half. Carson quickly made it a four-point game with a jumper to spark an 18-5 run. The Witches took their first lead since 2-0 on a Drake layup off a Tyler Bessette steal that made it 40-38 midway through the quarter.

The Witches forced the Eddies away from their vaunted inside game and into some bad shots in the second and third quarters, resulting in 33 percent shooting.

“As soon as we’d pass it in, they’d all drop down and swipe at the ball and it was frustrating at some point,” Leary said.

Brewer rode the momentum to 9-for-14 shooting in the third quarter and a seven-point lead to start the fourth, but the next eight minutes (2-for-6) would change that.

“We just used our experience, me and Jimbo and Bo especially, to slow them down, and throw them some different looks,” Iman said. “They’re a great team. We just pulled out a pretty miraculous win.”

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