BIDDEFORD — The Biddeford boys basketball team got back on the winning track Thursday night, defeating the Kennebunk Rams 45-35.

However, its season may be a case of deja vu.

The Tigers entered the game with a 2-5 record, the exact record it had last season after the first seven games, according to Biddeford point guard and captain Abdimajid Mohamed.

“We’re used to it from last year,” Mohamed said. “We started the season 2-5, so we’re used to being the underdog team. We work harder being small, so it’s nothing new.”

The Tigers (3-5) turned its 2008-2009 season around, finishing with a 10-8 record as well as an appearence in the Maine Western Class A playoffs.

Biddeford entered the game with Kennebunk on a four-game losing streak, which included losses to strong Cumberland County schools such as Deering, Scarborough and Westbrook.

But Biddeford hit the Tiger Gym floor in full force Thursday night, using its “run-and-gun” offense to compliment its press defense.

Mohamed, a senior, played well on both sides, as he led the Tigers in scoring with 12 points, while also making four steals.

Teammate and fellow guard Nick Simpson also had a strong game, scoring 10 points while making six steals. Chance Baldino added eight points for Biddeford.

Simpson said the Tigers strengths are shooting and moving the ball quickly on offense, a needed strategy as the team has a lack of big men down in the low post.

“We don’t have anyone big, so we can’t slow the game down,” Simpson said. “We played Westbrook just the other day, there’s nothing we can do on a 6-4 guy, so our strength is run-and-gun and move the ball around and shoot.”

The strategy worked throughout the entire first half, as the Tigers headed to the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 26-14 lead.

Kennebunk (0-8) struggled with shooting throughout the first half, but was game in the second half, coming within single-digits to the Tigers on multiple occasions thanks to the play of guard Van Brazz and guard Matt Dube. Brazz finished with a team-high 10 points, while Dube scored seven points.

“Kennebunk played hard,” Mohamed said. “They played tough defense the entire game. It was decent game we gave them.”

The Tigers will still play tough competition in the second half of the season, including two games with Thornton Academy, a rematch with Scarborough and another tough Cumberland County matchup with Portland.

Simpson said the Tigers have been able to hang in with tough competition, but will need to play better in the second half of the season.

“It’s nice to know we can beat some teams,” Simpson said. “We’ve been playing good against these tougher teams, but it’s good to have someone to beat. In the next couple of games we’ve got some tougher teams that we need to beat to be able to get into the tournament.”

Mohamed said it will take some of the magic of last season to get to the playoffs.

“We’ve got to do exactly what we did last year,” Mohamed said. “Last year we started off 2-5, and then we had a good stretch of wins. We played hard and we just never looked back and got into the playoffs, and that’s what the aim is this year.”

For now, however, the Tigers will take another win on the long road to the playoffs.

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 317.