SKOWHEGAN — Skowhegan never trailed Friday night’s boys basketball game against Erskine, but it took late free throws to pull away.

Jimmy Reed went 5 for 6 at the line in the fourth quarter, helping Skowhegan take a 51-35 win.

Skowhegan improves to 2-1, while Erskine is now 0-3 in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference play.

Ahead 38-20 after three quarters, Skowhegan saw the Eagles cut the lead to 11, 39-28, on an Austin Dunn 3-pointer with 6:47 to play. Chase Carey hit a layup to stem the Erskine tide, and Skowhegan closed the game with a 12-7 run.

After a Jacob Mortimer layup cut Skowhegan’s lead to 11-9 in the first minute of the second quarter, the Eagles went cold, not scoring the rest of the half. Skowhegan closed the half with a 13-0 run to take a 24-9 halftime lead.

“Defensively, we talked at practice about getting hands up on their shooters. They’ve got kids who can shoot, and it’s a lot of them,” Skowhegan coach Tom Nadeau said.

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Erskine’s full-court pressure gave Skowhegan trouble at times, forcing a pair of 10-second turnovers and a few close calls.

“Our youth, our inexperience, at times gets to us as far as handling pressure,” Nadeau said, “but I think we’re getting better.”

Reed led Skowhegan with 17 points. Tyler Elliott added eight points for the Indians.

Dunn led Erskine with 12 points while Braden Soule added 10, and Mortimer blocked four shots.


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