“I was a little nervous about that,” Pelletier said. “Sometimes you get to Senior Night and kids try to overdo it. There’s a lot of adrenaline going. We just tried to have everyone do their own roles and it went well.”

The Vikings had little trouble focusing on business in a key regular season finale against Mt. Blue. Oxford Hills took the lead early and shrugged off a late Cougars rally for a 36-27 win.

The defending Eastern A champs finish the regular season at 15-3. Oxford Hills was fourth in the recent Heal Point standings, but jumped up to third after the victory.

“You have to play whoever you draw, and you’ve got to play tough,” Pelletier said. “This time of year, no matter who you play, it’s going to be tough. You’re going to play the best of the best. The girls are ready to go. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, we’ve finally made the progress that we needed to.”

The Cougars (11-7) were fifth in the standings and could draw Edward Little, a team Mt. Blue beat last week. The Red Eddies dropped back to fourth despite the win over Lewiston Thursday. Though Mt. Blue lost in overtime to the Vikings earlier in the year, the Cougars struggled to get untracked Thursday. It wasn’t until a fourth-quarter surge that Mt. Blue showed some life.

“We’ve showed fight all year,” Mt. Blue coach Gavin Kane said. “I would have been awfully disappointed if we’d gone the entire ballgame without competing. It’s just against a quality team like that, you can’t wait until the fourth quarter to start leaving it on the floor. It’s a disappointing end to the regular season, but we have to regroup and get ready for the tournament.”

Anna Winslow led the Vikings with 16 points, including 10 in the second half. Mikayla Morin added seven while Tianna Sugars chipped in six. Mt. Blue was led by Caitlin Kane with 11 while Eryn Doiron finished with eight.

“We wanted to come out strong,” Winslow said. “We knew they were a team that will battle. So we needed to throw the first punch.”

After recognizing Mt. Blue seniors Addie Brinkman, Moesha Harrington, Rachelle Bator and Sarah Cummings, the Vikings honored their own players suiting up for their final home game. Winslow, Morin and Shannon Kriger were praised for their contributions to the program.

The Vikings then opened the game with an 11-2 first quarter. Winslow scored back-to-back baskets to open the game. Morin had a basket and a 3 and Sugars scored off a Morin pass for the early lead.

Mt. Blue missed its first 12 shots of the game and didn’t hit a field goal until Brinkman scored with 3:13 left in the half.

“We didn’t execute anything offensively,” Kane said. “We tried to run several different offenses. That’s when I knew we were being tentative when we can’t even run our basic offenses.”

The Vikings forced five turnovers in the first quarter and made life difficult for the Cougars, which missed its first 18 shots from the floor. Oxford Hills zone clogged the lanes and extended out on the shooters. Mt. Blue struggled to find space or make things happen.

“We take pride in our defense,” Pelletier said. “No matter who we play, our job is to make it tough for them to get good shots.”

Cummings had the only two free throws in the first quarter for the Cougars. Then Mackenzie Harris, who finished with seven rebounds, and Doiron hit free throws to get Mt. Blue within 11-5. After a Winslow basket, Brinkman scored the first field goal for the Cougars. Winslow fed Sugars for a late score to make it 15-7 at the half.

“We know that things go well when we get the ball into the post,” Winslow said. “Having three six-footers helps that. So we really try to focus on that and work together.”

The Vikings had the lead up to as many as 16 in the third quarter. Winslow had seven points in the quarter and Kriger had four to build a 29-13 lead. Then a fast break basket by Winslow and two free throws from Erin Morton had the advantage up to 33-15 early in the fourth.

That’s when Mt. Blue finally came to life. The Cougars used some smothering defense and was aggressive on offense to chip away at the lead. Doiron scored on a three-point play. After a free throw by Bator, Kane scored off a steal and then added another basket from her knees. That cut the deficit to 33-23 with 3:18 left.

“It took us three quarters to decide if we were going to play with the right effort and energy levels, for whatever reason,” Kane said. “We were very tentative offensively the entire first half. We were as cold from the floor as the temperatures outside.”

The Cougars had a chance to trim the lead even more late in the fourth, but the Vikings were able to fend off the rally. Winslow hit a free throw and Morin scored on a fast break in the final minute. Kane added a pair of baskets to finish the game off.

“We knew it was going to happen,” Pelletier said. “You tell the kids not to give up the dribble penetration and not to foul. When a team is desperate like they were and they’re down and going to the basket and drawing fouls, there’s isn’t much you can do.”

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