LEWISTON — Lewiston’s fourth-seeded boys’ basketball team has its share of upperclassmen standouts, but it was a sophomore who stole the show Thursday in a Class AA North quarterfinal at Masse Gymnasium.

Yusuf Dakane erupted for 21 of his 23 points in the second half, including several critical baskets at key times, to help Lewiston earn a 74-63 victory.

The Blue Devils (14-5) advance to face top-seeded Edward Little (17-2) at 3:45 p.m. next Thursday at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

“It was really fun to have this game in front of our home crowd. It really hyped me up,” said Dakane, a reserve who also had nine rebounds, two assists and two steals. “My teammates told me they believed in me and to keep going.”

Lewiston got out to a fast start, as David Omasambo hit three 3s, helping produce leads of 6-0 and 14-5 before Deering pulled within 16-10 after one quarter.

The fifth-seeded Rams (8-11) then went on an 11-0 run early in the second. A three-point play by Alex Willings gave them their first lead, then Max Chikuta banked home a shot. But Lewiston responded with seven straight points, highlighted by another Omasambo 3, and the Blue Devils held a 33-27 advantage at the half.

Deering made another run in the third quarter, as consecutive 3-pointers from Evan Legassey cut the deficit to 39-38. Dakane answered with a 3-pointer, and after Deering drew within 44-42, Dakane made three baskets in the final three minutes of the quarter to stretch the advantage to 52-44.

“Yusuf is a very special player who can do some things that you can’t even teach,” said Lewiston Coach Elgin Physic. “He’s naturally gifted.”

In the fourth, a 3-pointer from Elijah Scales, a three-point play from Dakane and a Dakane layup after a steal ended any remaining suspense.

“What this says about us is that we never back down, we just keep fighting,” said Dakane.

Lewiston also got 18 points from Omasambo and 13 from Eli Bigelow.

The Rams were paced by Remijo Wani, who scored 22 points. Legassey (13 points), Chikuta (12 points) and Willings (10 points) also finished in double figures, but 20 turnovers and poor foul shooting was too much to overcome.

“Turnovers and missed free throws was our MO in some of our closer losses and we didn’t minimize that enough tonight,” said Deering Coach Todd Wing, whose team won five of its last seven regular-season games after 3-8 start. “I thought we executed a pretty good game plan and were able to disrupt them defensively, but they got second-chance points.

“I’m pleased with how far we came. Losing can do a lot of things to a team, but that’s where senior leadership comes in. The guys believed and never gave up and I’m proud of them and thank them for that.”

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