The Red Eddies showed they exorcised their preseason demons, grabbing big rebounds early and jumping ahead for good. The Rams couldn’t catch up in a 58-42 win for Edward Little in a KVAC boys’ basketball game Friday night.

“It’s real hard, especially early in the season, to play a good team on their home court, and to catch up and play from behind,” Bangor (0-1) coach Carl Parker said.

Parker had to call a timeout a little more than three minutes in, with his team already down 8-2. It was already too late, however, for the Rams, who fell behind 11-2 before cutting it two with a 7-0 run. But the Red Eddies (1-0) finished the first quarter on a 6-0 run for a 17-9 lead.

“We definitely came out with a lot of intensity, and we have to do that,” EL coach Mike Adams said. “We can’t get down against good teams, because we might not come back in some of those situations.”

Adams referenced a preseason game against South Portland, in which his team got behind early and never recovered. It was also in that game that EL got heavily out-rebounded — a lesson the Red Eddies took into their season opener.

“We haven’t been rebounding the ball at all,” EL junior Darby Shea said. “We played South Portland (in the preseason), and they really woke us up on rebounding. Coach pushed us hard in practice, we pounded the ball. We got up there and got the rebounds tonight.”

The Red Eddies finished with 47 rebounds in the game, a total that helped tell the tale of their dominance in the paint.

That dominance started from the hosts’ first defensive possession when Jarod Norcross Plourde blocked a pair of shots to make amends for a missed layup at the other end.

“I liked how we played defensively,” Adams said. “I love how we rebounded the ball.”

Norcross Plourde made his presence inside known early, scoring four of his 14 points in the first quarter, including a three-point play to start his scoring. The Red Eddies senior then got help from sophomore Wol Maiwen off the bench, who came in and scored four points of his own in the opening quarter.

Maiwen then went off in the second, scoring seven more points to help EL pull even farther ahead for a 34-19 halftime lead.

“He’s quite the player,” Shea said. “I can’t wait to see him his senior year.”

Maiwen also was in on the Red Eddies’ block party, adding three rejections to go along with Norcross Plourde’s four.

The Bangor offense helped out the EL defense by turning the ball over 10 times in the first half.

“We got to make better decisions,” Parker said.

The Rams’ mistakes — as well as missed or blocked shots — led to frustration, which in turn led to fouls. Bangor was whistled for 12 fouls in the first half, good for 14 EL free throws, and the Red Eddies made nine of them.

Bangor played better after halftime, and at one point cut the deficit to just 10, but it was too little, too late.

“I thought if we could get it under 10, then maybe,” Parker said. “But it soon went to 20.”

Adams wasn’t completely happy with his team’s play in the second half, as the Red Eddies got away from getting the ball inside. But they showed enough mental toughness to keep the advantage big enough to hold on.

Norcross Plourde and Shea led all scorers with 14 points apiece. Maiwen and Samatar Iman chipped in with 11 points each.

Damien Vance had a team-high 11 points for Bangor. Phil Slick added 10, and George Payne made three 3-pointers.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com