FAIRFIELD — There are no nights off in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A division where parity rules.

The Cony boys basketball team came into raucous Folsom Gymnasium at 2-6 with little to lose and knocked off a 6-2 Lawrence team that rarely gets beaten on its home court. The Rams pulled into the lead in the second half behind Josiah Hayward and Walker Cooper to post a 56-50 win, their biggest in two years.

“It’s a big deal,” said Hayward, who shared game-high scoring honors with Cooper with 19 points. “It gets us back in the playoffs.”

The Rams broke a 23-all halftime tie by scoring the first 11 points of the third quarter to take a 34-23 lead. Hayward scored the first seven points, capping his run with a steal and layup.

“Hayward broke us down,” Lawrence coach Mike McGee said. “He broke us down this summer. We have no one that can guard Hayward. I knew coming in that was going to be the matchup problem.”

The Rams held a 41-30 lead late in the quarter but the Bulldogs didn’t fold. Alex Leathers sandwiched a layup and 3-pointer around Spencer Carey’s driving score as Lawrence drew to within 41-37 at the break. Carey opened the fourth quarter with two straight layups to tie the score at 41. Of the Bulldogs 21 field goals, 17 were layups.

“That’s one thing that we didn’t do very well,” Hayward said.

Just when it appeared the momentum swung back to Lawrence, the Rams took off. Ben Lucas and Hayward hit layups and Cooper followed with a 3-pointer from the left side to make it 48-41.

“We knew they were going to pick it up and give it all they got,” Hayward said. “We just had to match it. The whole team did great.”

The Bulldogs drew to 48-45 on a layup from Nick Noiles and two free throws from Keith Chesley, but Cooper responded a run that included two foul shots, a putback and an assist to Lucas for a layup as the Rams broke a Lawrence press.

Zack Lachance added 10 points while point guard Chandler Shostak blocked four shots and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Carey led the Bulldogs with 14 points while Tim Dudley scored 12, all in the first half, and Leathers had 10.

“They played with urgency and we didn’t,” McGee said. “That’s what you’re going to find in this league. Some teams need points to get in (the tournament) now.”

Added Cony coach Tim Bonsant: “The gap’s getting smaller and smaller. We’re going to win some games, we’ve just got to believe in ourselves.”

Gary Hawkins — 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com