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LEWISTON — The Lewiston boys basketball team’s guards are buying into the game plan established by coach Elgin Physic.

The Blue Devils want to set a lot of screens, and stay wide and spaced out to get players open so the guards can feed them the ball.

“We play a really big part, because if we could get our teammates open with the screen, then that just opens up a whole lot more options for us,” guard Abdirahman Dakane said.

Dakane led Lewiston (6-6) on Tuesday with 14 points in a 48-45 win over rival Edward Little (6-6). Another guard, Adam Zeininger, added 12 points.

Physic said the guards are at their best when they’re able to quickly transition from defense to offense.

“We got a lot of layups, more than I thought we would. So I thought we did a good job of really just trying to get downhill and get to the basket,” Physic said.

Edward Little coach James Philbrook said he was impressed that Lewiston’s guards weren’t afraid of going to the paint where Red Eddies forward Diing Maiwen was looking to block shots.

“Their guards did a good job of getting downhill,” Philbrook said. “Obviously, we did have some blocked shots, but they continued to attack. They weren’t afraid, which I respect.

“A couple of times, though, we’re slow to rotate, and, you know, we gave up some wide-open layups, which, you know, it’s all our guys. Like, that’s just, you know, it’s unacceptable.”

Zeininger said when Lewiston faces a forward who can dominate inside the paint, like Maiwen, the guards also are ready to contribute from the outside.

“A lot of our offense is really made for everybody to score at that point,” Zeininger said. “But … since they had such a bigger guy inside, we were trying to look to get more outside looks, and maybe maybe an inside look here and there.”

Physic lauded another guard, Deion Jackson, who only scored four points but still make key contributions to Tuesday’s victory.

“I mean, well, we’re not afraid of no one,” Jackson said. “We’re going to give it to anybody. We’re a fearless team. But, like, we were just trying to swing the ball around, get everybody touching it. But, yeah, we’re a fearless team.”

More Maiwen

Philbrook said one thing the Red Eddies can learn from Tuesday’s game is they need to get the ball to Maiwen more often. He scored 15 points.

“And part of that’s on me … we have to do a better job of finding Diing and getting him the ball,” Philbrook said. “We can’t let him go, you know, four straight possessions without even getting a touch. And that’s not to say that once we get him the ball, Diing needs to force it. Diing is going to be smart enough where he knows if three or four guys are collapsing on him, you’ve just got to make the easy play and kick him back out.”

Akol Maiwen scored 22 points, and Philbrook credited Diing Maiwen and TJ Kramarz for getting rebounds and second-chance opportunities.