WELLS — For the better part of two quarters, the Wells High boys’ basketball team hit a cold stretch with its shooting.

So it looked perilous when Evan Christensen of Old Orchard Beach drained a step-back 3-pointer off the dribble with 2:48 to go in the third quarter. Granted it only put the Seagulls ahead by seven, but considering Wells had just 21 points at the time, that was quite a lead.

But after his team had missed nine straight from behind the arc, Tyler Dewey of Wells found the range with an open look, stole the ball at midcourt and went in for a layup.

Just like that the Warriors were back in business and started on an 11-0 run that proved the difference Thursday night in a 38-35 interclass win.

“Tonight it was Tyler and another night it will be someone else,” Wells Coach Troy Brown said.

Class B Wells and Class C Old Orchard are both 1-1.

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Dewey got the run started but it was center Deandre Woods who put Wells ahead to stay with a strong offensive rebound basket to start the fourth quarter.

After a turnover and air ball on Old Orchard’s first two fourth-quarter possessions, Woods added a smooth pull-up leaner in the lane.

Brown made a seemingly curious personnel change when he inserted sophomore forward Cameron Cousins for the first time to start the fourth quarter. Cousins responded with a sound decision, making passes and a layup when he ran hard to fill a lane to get a transition pass from Owen Berry. Then he kept a ball alive off the glass that Berry eventually converted for a 35-30 lead.

“That was a case of my assistant coaches tugging on my sleeve telling me, ‘This kid will rebound for us,’ ” Brown said. “We’ve seen it in practice but I’m always a little hesitant to put a sophomore in a tight game. He did well. He has a nose for the ball.”

Wells essentially hung on after that, helping itself with good ball movement to milk the clock but failing to put the game away when Berry twice missed the front end of 1-and-1 free-throw opportunities in the final half-minute.

Old Orchard hurt its comeback cause by missing a layup off a good inside dish, then committing turnovers after each of the Berry freethrow misses with Wells leading, 37-35.

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“Their defensive intensity disrupted our offensive flow,” Old Orchard Coach Mike Burke said.

Woods and Dewey led the Warriors with nine points each. Woods was also effective as a high-post facilitator in the first quarter when Wells took a 13-7 lead thanks in part to three 3-pointers.

Then the shots stopped falling from the outside and Wells couldn’t seem to find any creases in Old Orchard’s zone defense.

Christensen (game-high 14 points), Sam Custeau and Zach Hirst were each able to get inside in the second quarter as Old Orchard outscored the Warriors 15-2 to take a 22-15 lead at halftime, with Christensen finishing the half with a driving three-point play.

Ian Regan added 10 points for the Gulls, with a pair of first-half 3-pointers.


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