LEWISTON — One basket followed another. As the Lewiston girls’ basketball team scored and scored again in the third quarter Friday night, the Blue Devils  were shaking up what appeared to be a comfortable Edward Little lead.

The Red Eddies 16-point cushion was suddenly down to eight, and EL was calling timeout.

“I was biting my finger nails,” said junior guard Kate Sawyer. “I was like, ‘Why aren’t we playing defense?'”

That subject might have been addressed in the EL huddle and the Red Eddies quickly regrouped. EL finished the third with a 9-1 run and never looked back in a 56-34 win.

“We’re just not playing very well defensively,” said EL coach Craig Jipson. “Our defense should always be there. The mantra of our program has been about being a great defensive team. Now we’ve got some kids that can score, and we’re not playing defense with the same intensity.”

Lewiston (0-5) made a pair of nice runs in the game. The Blue Devils got down by 12 in the first quarter but cut it to six. Then behind by as many as 18, Lewiston ran off eight straight to get within striking distance in the third.

“We’re getting a little better,” said Lewiston coach Mike McGraw. “Our attitude is much better. We’re more hopeful. We’re getting better. Now we’ve got to get to the next level and put together two quarters instead of one.”

EL (3-2) got 18 from Ashlee Arnold and 13 from Sawyer. Tianna Harriman added 10. Lewiston was led by Jannessa Talarico with 10. Brie Wilson added eight while Kelsey Dumond had seven.

EL opened the first two quarters with significant runs. EL started the game with an 11-1 spurt, led by 3’s from Arnold and Sawyer.  Those two combined for 15 of EL’s 17 points in the first quarter.

“That’s just living and dying from the outside,” said Sawyer. “If  it goes in early, that’s good news for us.”

EL was up by 12 but a pair of 3’s by Talarico cut it to 15-9 before a pair of Arnold free throws made it 17-9 after one quarter.

“We’re a good team defensively, but we’re still making mental mistakes,” said McGraw. “A good shooting team like EL is going to take advantage of that. You can’t leave them open.”

EL then opened the second with a 9-1 run, led by Harriman’s five points. Lewiston got a 3 from Dumond to end the half, keeping Lewiston within 30-15.

An Arnold 3 midway through the third made it 36-20. Then Lewiston started to chip away. After two Wilson free throws, Dumond scored on a rebound and a fast break. Then MacKenzie Sullivan took it to the hoop for a 36-28 game with 3:34 left in the third.

“We had to get back to defense,” said Sawyer. “Offense will eventually come. If we can play offense, that’s cool, but defense has to be first.”

Arnold put the lead to double digits with an off-balance basket. Then Harriman fed Crissy Lewis in the post to make it 40-28. After a free throw by Sullivan, Arnold sank two from the line and Harriman drilled a 3 to make it 45-29.

Lewiston was held to just one field goal in the fourth as EL opened up the lead with a 7-2 run to start.

“It’s very hard to play when you feel like you have to come in and win by 50 or whatever,” said Jipson, whose team was a preseason favorite to challenge for another KVAC title and more. ” You play with the weight of the world on your shoulder. I think we went into the season with some very unrealistic expectations considering four of our top eight are a couple of sophomores and a couple of freshmen and kids are trying to step into that load.”

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