WELLS — Finding itself two places out of playoff position with just four games remaining on the schedule, the Kennebunk boys basketball team knew it needed a win over rival Wells on Tuesday night if it were to have any chance of making the postseason.

And from the opening tip, the Rams played like it.

Kennebunk came out of the gates firing, taking an early 7-0 lead, pushing it up to 13 at the half and holding off a ferocious Wells rally in the final few minutes for a 53-46 victory in a pivotal Western Maine Conference game at Ronco Gym.

For the Rams (5-10), who avenged an earlier 61-44 defeat to Wells, it nudges the backdoor into the Western Class A playoffs slightly more ajar.

“We came in with more energy this time and didn’t treat it like just another game. We kind of came in with a grudge,” said Kennebunk point guard Nate Gilbert, who scored 13 points.

“Everyone knows the Kennebunk/Wells rivalry, and it’s nice beating the team in town that’s right next to you. Maybe it keeps them out of the playoffs, but we really needed the points because they’re a good team.”

For Wells (5-10), which entered just one spot out of the Western Class B playoff places, it makes the pathway to the postseason all the more difficult.

“This was a very important game for us. We need every win we can get at this point of the season,” Warriors coach Troy Brown said. “It was a hard-fought game down there, we knew it was going to be a tough game here, but we didn’t get off to a good start. And when you turn the ball over and don’t box out like we do sometimes, it’s going to hurt you.”

The Rams, whose five starters all measure over 6 feet tall ”“ compared to just one on Wells ”“ put their height advantage to good use all night, with Jack Lapham scoring a team-high 14 points and using his 6-foot-5 frame to help the Rams control the boards on both ends.

“We’re bigger, we execute, we win. It should be that way,” Kennebunk coach John Dube said. “They got us out of our game the last time we played them, but we executed tonight. That was the big difference.”

Also unlike in that first game, Kennebunk executed its box and one game plan ”“ designed to limit Wells standout Jake Moody, who entered with a WMC-leading 24.5 points per game average ”“ to perfection in the first three quarters, when it held Wells to 22 points.

Moody still scored 23 points in all, but only four of those came in the first half as the Rams built what turned out to be an insurmountable lead.

“I was kind of excited because I know he’s one of the best players in the league, if not the best,” said Gilbert, who was charged with defending Moody throughout. “It was just a good opportunity for me to cover him and make myself better, and hopefully make him better.”

“Moody is the best player in the state, I love the kid, but Nate Gilbert was just as valuable tonight,” added Dube. “He did a great job. You couldn’t ask for better.”

Despite scoring just 22 points through the opening three quarters, the Warriors found themselves down by just eight entering the final period. After seeing the gap closed to five, Kennebunk went on a 13-2 run, including a pair of three-point plays by Lapham, to extend its lead to 47-33 with three minutes to go.

Wells had one last run in it, using a full-court press and some timely shots to close to within 50-46 with 50 seconds left, and the Warriors had a chance to get even closer when Chris Carney caught a pass down low and went up for a lay up.

But Kennebunk’s Ben Wilson came across the lane and made the biggest play of the night, stuffing Carney and grabbing the loose ball to seal the win.

“That was huge,” Gilbert said. “I don’t know how, but Ben always comes up with those plays at the end of games.”

On the other side, Brown questioned why his team’s effort in the fourth quarter, when the Warriors more than doubled their scoring output from the first three quarters, wasn’t there for the entire game.

“We saw what my kids can do in an eight-minute span,” Brown said. “That’s one thing we talked about in the locker room, why can’t we do that for 32 minutes? Why can’t we bring that intensity? That’s what we’re capable of, if we want to do it.”

Kennebunk has another important game on Friday, when it hosts Gray-New Gloucester (3-12) in what amounts to another must-win game.

Wells faces an arguably even more important test that night, when it heads to Poland to take on the 6-9 Knights, the team that sits one place above Wells and in the last playoff position.

Despite having two more games next week, Brown didn’t sugarcoat the meaning of Friday’s contest.

“We’ve put ourselves in a spot, and we’ve got to get a win Friday; it’s as simple as that,” he said. “Win and we’re probably in, lose and we’re probably out. It’s now or never.”

— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or cdunbar@journaltribune.com.