TOPSHAM

Everyone in the gym knew who was going to have the ball in the final seconds of Thursday night’s boys high school basketball game between Mt. Ararat and Edward Little. Shyheim Ulrickson almost pulled it off.

Down seven inside two minutes, Alex LaFountain drove to the basket for a crucial hoop-and-harm play. He missed the ensuing free throw, but the Eagles pressured the in-bound and got the ball right back. Ulrickson got open beyond the arc and nailed a deep trey to bring his team within two.

A missed front end of an Edward Little 1-and-1 gave Mt. Ararat the ball with a chance to tie or win the game. As the clock wound down inside 10 seconds, Ulrickson dribbled, looking for an opening before driving to the hoop, where he was fouled with three seconds left.

Just when it looked like the Eagles’ Senior Night had life, the first free throw bounced off the rim. Edward Little launched the ball down the court and escaped with a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win, 48-47.

Edward Little (10-8) trailed 27-16 at the half. The Red Eddies used a 14-2 run to come back, claiming a 34-33 edge heading to the final frame.

“Our flow wasn’t there,” Eagles coach Steve Cox said of the second half. “When we move the ball and the offense flows well, things look really good. And when they don’t, we as a coaching staff try and figure out how to get it back. We just didn’t get it back today. We didn’t make the shots we typically make.”

Jarod Norcross Piourde led the Red Eddies, scoring 11 of his 16 total points in the second half. He scored six straight for the visitors in the middle of the fourth quarter that helped build the lead.

For coach Mike Adams, the biggest difference was closing down the middle, where his team was beaten in the first half.

“We did a better job, not great, but a better job of limiting their paint touches and getting the ball inside for ourselves,” Adams said. “We do make a big emphasis to get the ball into the paint, and we didn’t do that in the first half. A lot of the credit goes to the bench. We pulled our starters out at one point and they really brought energy in. They gave us a great four minutes and that was big for us. We started to believe.”

Ulrickson finished with 11 points. His 3-pointer came after four missed attempts from outside, and the senior uncharacteristically missed three free throws.

“ It was just hectic at the end of the game. We were just trying to get an open look, and everyone knows that Shy’s going to be the one to take the last shot. It just didn’t fall this time,” LaFountain said of the first missed free throw.

LaFountain led all scorers with 20 points, and pulled in a game-high 10 boards. Still, in the second half, the 6- foot- 5 senior was covered inside in the second half before his crucial hoop- andharm. The rebounds he was grabbing after Red Eddie shots were suddenly turning into offensive boards, which then turned into points.

“ Defensive rebounding,” LaFountain said. “We gave them too many chances off their misses. We need to do a better job boxing out and they came back and wanted it more in the end.”

“I was happy they battled back and reached a little deeper in the tank,” Cox said. “ But it was tough to give that lead up.”

Solid first half

The Eagles started hot, and were able to sustain the early lead in the second frame. They finished at 43 percent from the floor, but according to Cox, if his team had made more shots, the game changes drastically.

“ First half, we didn’ t get the ball inside,” Adams said. “They kicked our butts on the glass. They got the ball inside way too much. They did a really good job of controlling the ball and limiting our dribble penetration. We didn’t do a good job of getting lower and attacking the elbows.”

Edward Little hit 38 percent of its shots, and with the second half adjustments, turned eight first- half turnovers into just two after the break. Tyler Morin tallied 11 points and Austin Cox finished with 10.

Ulrickson also notched five assists and grabbed eight rebounds for Mt. Ararat , which has now dropped four out of its last five games with a potential playoff rematch with rival Brunswick looming at the Portland Expo on Feb. 12.

“ We take the first half away from tonight,” Cox said. “ We know Brunswick as well as anybody, and if that ends up being the matchup, then we’ ll prepare. We’ ll be ready, and hopefully we’ll play two first halves.”

“ This game is a tough one,” LaFountain said. “ Senior Night and last game in this gym. So we take that to the playof fs and we play even harder next time.”

Edward Little 48, Mt. Ararat 47

Thursday, at Mt. Ararat High School

	Edward		Little	—	8	8	18	14	—	48
Mt.		Ararat	—		17	10	6	14	—	47

Edward Little — Tyler Morin 4-3-11, CJ Jipson 0-0-0, Jarod Norcross Piourde 6-3-16, Samatar Iman 1-2-4, Austin Cox 5-0-10, Grant Hartley 1-0- 2, Wol Maiwen 0-0-0, Darby Shea 2- 0-5. Totals — 19-8-48. Mt. Ararat — Eric Segars 1-0-3, Alex LaFountain 9-2-20, Shyheim Ulrickson 4-2-11, Zach Garvey 3-0-6, Harper Moutal 1-0-2, Cam Cox 1-1-3, Garret Bolduc 0-0-0, Cole Guerin 0-0- 0, Ryan Mello 1-0-2. Totals — 20-5- 47 3-point field goals — (EL) Jarod Norcross Piourde, Darby Shea; (MtA) Eric Segars, Shyheim Ulrickson. Records — Edward Little 10-8, Mt. Ararat 11-7. Up next for the Eagles — Class A South quarterfinal, to be announced.