Edward Little’s Hannah Chaput attempts to shoot the ball while being defended by Lewiston’s Lauren Foster, Emily Strachan, Myah Nicolas, and Maddy Foster during Tuesday night’s game in Lewiston. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)

LEWISTON — Both Edward Little and Lewiston were looking for their first victories of the season when the rivals met on Fern Masse Court for the first of two regular-season clashes.

The Red Eddies who emerged with the 52-45 win, but shaking off the Blue Devils was more difficult than shaking off fly paper.

Hannah Chaput led a balanced EL (1-1) scoring sheet with 13 points. Jade Perry added 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, and Grace Fontaine chipped in with 10 points and six steals.

Lewiston’s Emily Strachan scored a game-high 22 points, while Maddie Foster added 14 points and 15 rebounds.

“Our biggest thing tonight was just keeping our cool,” Perry said.

“We’ve been in big games a lot,” said Chantel Ouellette, who added nine points and six rebounds for EL. “We just have to help each other out and cool each other down.”

Edward Little led by 12 with 3:04 remaining after Perry hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game. Lewiston (0-2) responded with back-to-back 3s, from virtually the same spot in the left corner, by Jordyn Rubin and Strachan to make it 47-41 with 1:11 remaining, prompting EL coach Chris Cifelli to call a time out.

After Fontaine made one of two free throws, Rubin got Lewiston even closer with a layup that made it 48-43 with 31 seconds to go. Fontaine and Strachan traded free throws to keep it a five-point game with 17.3 seconds left, but Chaput converted both of her free throws to finally put the game away.

The two teams combined to miss their first 14 shots from the field before Chaput’s 3-pointer on an out-of-bounds play ended the drought while simultaneously putting the Eddies in front for good at 5-4.

“Our last two games, we’ve missed a lot of bunnies,” Cifelli said. “If it were one thing of not being able to get those shots, I’d be worried. But at the same time, we are getting those looks, so it’s something we can get after in practice and work through.”

The Red Eddies turned their shooting woes around in the second quarter by making nine of 18 shots. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, missed their first 11 shots of the game until a Strachan layup with 3:24 left in the second quarter. That pulled them to within five.

But as would be the case most of the night, EL had an answer any time Lewiston made a run.

Lewiston made four of its final five shots of the first half but still found itself on the short end of a 14-6 run to end the half. Fontaine sparked it with a 3-pointer and it was capped by Chaput’s buzzer-beating bank shot to send the Eddies into halftime with a 28-15 lead.

Adding to the Blue Devils’ troubles was losing starting junior guard CeCe Racine in the first quarter with a recurring foot injury. She did not return.

EL went cold again in the third (2-for-13) while another Lewiston spurt cut the margin to eight heading into the fourth.

“I think our defensive pressure helped a little bit,” Lewiston coach Lynn Girouard said. “And then, we were just being more aggressive offensively in the second half. In the first half, we were a little bit scared. Shots weren’t falling, and their shots were falling, and it just kind of threw us all off.”

“I’ve got to commend my girls because they dug down deep,” she added. “Easily, that could have been a 20-point win (for EL). When we lose CeCe in the first quarter, EL could have easily blown us out, and my girls just stepped up and did the little things.”

Meghan Morris’ jumper got the Devils back within six early in the quarter, but EL snapped back with the next seven points on a Perry 3, two Fontaine free throws and a Chaput jumper.

“We just need to keep shooting,” Perry said. “I think that’s our biggest thing right now is not letting a missed shot stop us from shooting.”

Cifelli credited Lewiston’s transition defense, which started with Foster (five offensive rebounds) doing yeoman work on the offensive boards, with helping keep the Eddies from hitting another gear to pull away.

“They did a pretty good job of slowing down our fast break,” Cifelli said. “We like our transition. That gets us going, too. They slowed us down a little bit that way.”

Lewiston’s Lauren Foster recovers a rebound while Edward Little’s Caroline Hammond defends during Tuesday night’s game in Lewiston. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)

Edward Little’s Brooklyn Alexander goes for the basket as Lewiston’s Emily Strachan plays defense during Tuesday night’s game in Lewiston. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)

Edward Little’s Brooklyn Alexander goes for the basket as Lewiston’s Emily Strachan plays defense during Tuesday night’s game in Lewiston. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)

Edward Little’s Jade Perry dribbles to the basket as Lewiston’s Lauren Foster tries to get in on the play during Tuesday night’s game in Lewiston. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)

Lewiston’s Emily Strachan drives to the basket past Edward Little’s Hannah Chaput during Tuesday night’s game in Lewiston. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)

Lewiston’s Jordyn Rubin takes the ball to the basket past Edward Little’s Grace Fontaine during Tuesday night’s game in Lewiston. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)

Lewiston’s Kaelynn Girouard keeps her eye on the basket as she moves past Edward Little’s Brooklyn Alexander during Tuesday night’s game in Lewiston. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)