READFIELD — For the Winslow boys basketball team, sharing is caring.

In the case of the Black Raiders, the sharing aspect comes on the offensive end of the floor. And it pays off with victories.

It played a major part in Winslow walking away with a 66-57 victory over Maranacook in a Kennebec Valley Conference Class B game Thursday night.

Four Black Raiders tallied 10 or more points, led by junior guard Jack Morneault, who finished with 16.

Aiding Morneault were guards Spencer Miranda (13 points) and Dylan Hutchinson (12). Forward Hunter Campbell chipped in with 10 points for Winslow (11-4).

The win did not come easy. Down 46-35 to start the fourth quarter, Maranacook (6-10) made a furious comeback attempt, led by senior guard Taylor Wilbur, who put in a strong effort by scoring 14 of his game-high 24 points in the quarter alone.

“(With) a guy like Wilbur who can come in and knock down shots, we knew they were going to battle. This wasn’t going to be an easy game,” Winslow head coach Jared Browne said. “You can look at the standings, look at the records, but that means nothing. Maranacook is a very good program, very good team, very well-coached. I knew they would give us everything they had.”

But thanks to the play of Miranda, who scored nine of his 13 points in the quarter, Winslow held off the Black Raiders.

It was a needed win for Winslow, which started the season 8-0 before going 2-4 in their previous six games. But Winslow continues to showcase an offense using multiple scorers, meaning any given night a new player can step up and lead it to victory.

“We’re all friends, so that makes it easy to share the ball,” Morneault said. “We know that they can score.”

The two teams traded shots throughout the first half of the game, and Winslow went into halftime up 28-24. Morneault was the offensive force for Winslow in the first half, scoring 10 points, while Campbell chipped in with six of his 10 points.

“We’re very well rounded,” Browne said. “(Miranda) is our leading scorer — he’s got 12 (points) per game — but (Morneault) has 10 per game, Keanu (Earle) has 10 per game. Dylan has eight. We don’t have the one stud, we have a bunch of really good players. Guys that are really dynamic.”

Winslow was able to lengthen the lead out to 11 points by the end of the third, but Wilbur and the Black Bears kicked in and fought hard, taking advantage of Winslow turnovers.

“We know Winslow really well, we know what to expect, they’re a really good team,” Maranacook head coach Rob Schmidt said. “They have a lot of good athletes, a lot of good basketball players. We knew we had to play our best….Individually we didn’t put in that effort, and collectively it showed.”

Maranacook came within six points of Winslow with two minutes to play, but were unable to take over the lead. The Black Raiders were able to kill the final minute of the contest offensively to secure the win.

It’s been a tough season for the Black Bears, who have been in eight games this season decided by five points or less, with a 4-4 record in those contests.

“I think it’s a culmination of the a lot of things (in close games),” Schmidt said. “It’s missed layups, it’s missed layups. It’s giving up too many points. It’s just everything that adds up over a 32-minute game. Tonight, certainly our defense wasn’t that great. When you give up that many points, you have to look at that. But that’s a piece of the bigger picture.”

Dave Dyer — 621-5639

ddyer@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Dave_Dyer

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