Cony is 11-5 going into its final two home games against Skowhegan on Friday and top-ranked Edward Little on Tuesday.

The Rams knocked off one of Eastern Maine’s hottest teams Thursday night when they beat Oxford Hills, 68-62, in triple overtime in South Paris. The Vikings had beaten Cony on its home court earlier in the season.

“It was a fantastic game,” Cony coach Ted Rioux said. “I thought the girls executed the game plan perfectly.”

The Rams have been a run-and-gun team for much of the season but needed a patient approach in attacking the Vikings’ 2-3 zone. They shot the ball well, connecting on 12 3-pointers and finished 16 for 19 from the foul line. Cony senior Abby Wormell hit a big shot with two seconds left to send the game to a third overtime when the Rams pulled away.

They played the final couple of minutes without leading scorer Emily Quirion, who developed cramps. Quirion finished with a team-high 27 points.

“I think what it showed is they executed a game plan,” Rioux said. “To me it’s gigantic because this is a team that likes to run.”

The Rams will need a patient approach in their last two games. Skowhegan has much more size in Morgan Buker and Andrea Quirion while Rioux said Edward Little is a complete team.

“We’ve got to make sure we control the tempo,” he said.

This week, Cony welcomed back senior Lindsey Quirion, who has been out before Christmas with stress fracture in her foot.

“She’s probably one of the best defenders we have on the team,” Rioux said.

• • •

Oak Hill had won eight games in a row prior to Monday night’s 44-38 loss to St. Dominic. Included in the win streak was a win against St. Dom’s in Wales.

“I was worried we’d stub our toe coming down the stretch,” Oak Hill coach Tom Morong said. “They packed in a zone against us. We didn’t take care of the ball very well.”

The Raiders (11-4) have games remaining against Lisbon, Hall-Dale and Boothbay. They play a Class C schedule but compete for a tournament berth in Western Maine Class B where they are in seventh place. They’ll need to finish sixth or better to avoid a prelim.

“If we win out it’s going to be close,” Morong said. “We’ve got to take all of them.”

Morong said his players have been battling flu and colds, although that’s not unique to his team this time of year, and hopes they put their recent loss behind them.

“I’m glad it happened now and not next week or the week after,” he said.

• • •

They’ll be plenty on the line Friday night when Maranacook plays at Gardiner.

Gardiner was 9-5 heading into Wednesday night’s game at unbeaten Nokomis. The Tigers are in eighth place in Eastern Maine Class B and will need stay there or above to avoid playing a prelim game on the road.

Maranacook (11-5) is in second place in Western Maine Class C and will need to stay there since teams 3 through 14 will play prelim games. Both teams struggled in winning games against teams with poor records Tuesday night. Maranacook got past Maine Central Institute, 51-46, at home while Gardiner nipped Erskine 46-44 on the road.

“I’ve got to give (coach) Scott (Corey) and his girls credit,” Gardiner coach Mike Gray said. “Erskine played well. Now that it’s over I think it’s already a good thing for us.”

Gardiner beat Maranacook 50-42 in the season opener. Gray said the key to playing the Black Bears is handling their pressure and slowing down high-scoring junior Christine Miller.

“We need to limit what she does,” he said. “We know they’re fighting for a seed in their bracket. It’s a nice tuneup for the both of us.”

• • •

Monmouth and St. Dom’s meet tonight in Monmouth in a key Mountain Valley Conference matchup. The Saints (13-3) beat Monmouth 50-32 earlier in the season and sit atop the Western Maine Class C tournament standings while the Mustangs (10-6) are in sixth place. The game features two of better all-around players and scorers in the MVC in St. Dom’s Kelly Pomerleau and Monmouth’s Kylie Kemp.

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