AUBURN — There always seems to be that moment that crops up each game for the Edward Little girls’ basketball team. The Red Eddies watch a lead slip away, their intensity level lessens or the club just needs a little spark.

It can be kind of like hitting the reset button.

That’s when the team finds a way to regroup and refocus.

“It seems quite often we have a slump during the game or in the third quarter,” sophomore guard Kory Norcross said. “It just keeps happening. We just call timeout. We tell ourselves to slow it it down and forget about that play and play the next play and keep going on.”

The Red Eddies saw that very scenario occur Tuesday night. Down by as many as 13, Mt. Blue shook off a slow start and rallied in the third quarter. The Cougars got within six and forced EL to regroup.

EL got back to business and finished the quarter with seven straight. The Red Eddies then opened up the lead in the fourth for a 48-35 win.

EL (7-2) and Mt. Blue (5-4) are battling for playoff positioning in Eastern A. The Cougars were ranked fourth with EL in fifth entering Tuesday’s game.

“This is a huge game for us,” said EL coach Craig Jipson, whose team has won seven straight. “They’re going to win a ton of games. They’re a great team and will be worth a lot of Heal Points.”

Norcross led EL with 13 points while Kate Sawyer and Ashlee Arnold each had 11. Tianna Harriman chipped in seven, all in the decisive third.

Mt. Blue got 18 from Miranda Nicely and 11 from Gabby Foy.

Three baskets by Nicely early in the third were part of an 8-2 run. When Jaycee Mullen scored with 3:48 left, the Cougars were within six at 28-22.

Jipson called a quick timeout to get the Red Eddies refocused.

“We just needed a good look,” said Jipson. “We were throwing a lot of what we call 50-50 passes — where the kid is kind of open. We just opened the third quarter with a lot of those 50-50 passes. Rather than make the great passes, we wanted to make the good passes.”

Harriman had already scored on a rebound for EL but her drive with 3:20 left made it an eight-point game. Then she hit a jumper and later sank a free throw. MaryKate Masters hit a short jumper in the final minute to make it 35-22 after three.

“It helps when people come off the bench like Tianna and MaryKate,” said Norcross. “They come off the bench and really pick us up.”

That surge quickly deflated the Cougars. After working so hard to get close,  Mt. Blue had a slight let down late in the third as EL pulled away.

“We missed two shots that definitely were make-able,” said Mt. Blue coach Tom Philbrick. “It could have been a two-point game. Instead, it was a four-point swing and we ended up in a 10-point game.”

Norcross scored eight in the fourth while Arnold added five, all from the foul line, to pad the lead.

“Once we got that lead, it was like ‘We’ve got this,'” said Norcross.

The Cougars were plagued by a slow start. Mt. Blue missed its first nine shots and turned the ball over five times in the first quarter.

“We came out flat,” said Philbrick. “We knew it. We work hard all the time, and you’re going to have nights where you don’t play to your potential. We didn’t quit, and we played right until the end.”

EL took advantage of Mt. Blue’s start and opened a quick 8-0 lead. Sawyer hit a 3 and led the charge with five of her 11 first half points in the opening quarter. Brooke Reynolds and Crissy Lewis added field goals as well.

“Brooke Reynolds rebounded well,” said Jipson. “Tianna Harriman did a great job. Kory Norcross had an old fashioned three-point play which was a big basket. What I like about this team is that a lot of kids contribute.”

Mt. Blue cut it to 13-9 in the second on a Nicely fast break hoop, but EL used an 11-2 run to make it 24-11. Sawyer and Arnold scored all 11 points during that stretch for EL. Then Norcross scored off a Lewis feed at the buzzer for a 26-14 lead at the half.

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