BANGOR- In a rematch of the 2023 Class B Boys Basketball State Title game, Orono would never trail and earned their second consecutive goldball with a 56-48 win over Oceanside at the Cross Insurance Center on Friday night. The back to back seasons of winning the state basketball title is the first time the Red Riots have done that in 62 years (1961, 1962).
Orono began the game with a Bergen Soderberg three-pointer, and two baskets from Pierce Walston for a quick 7-0 lead. After Oceanside started to find their offense some and cut it to 11-7, Will Francis hit a three-pointer followed by 1-2 from the free throw line, and Mason Kenney added a hoop to give the Red Riots what turned out to be their largest advantage of the night at 17-7. They held a 19-14 lead after eight minutes. After Walston scored six points in the first quarter, he added five more in the second as Orono led by as many as nine and would take a 29-25 lead into the halftime break. 11 points in the first 16 minutes from Zeb Foster kept the Mariners in it.
Orono put five players in the scorebook in the third quarter, and after Oceanside had cut it to 29-27, Noah Schaff came up with a key basket and Will Francis added two more to push it back to 37-30. The Red Riots took a 41-37 lead into the final period. Oceanside got a second half spark off the bench from freshman center Trevin Ripley. Ripley came up with two blocks and four points to begin the final quarter to help the Mariners tie it 41-41. Ben Francis was fouled on a three-point attempt and pushed his Orono squad back in front for good moments later as part of a 6-0 run, hitting 2-3 at the line. Schaff and Walston had the other buckets that made it 47-41. Cohen Galley hit a three-pointer for Oceanside with 1:23 to play to get his team within 48-46, but after a timeout Walston sent a long baseball inbounds pass from under his own basket to a streaking Will Francis who converted an uncontested layup on the other end. The Red Riots sealed it with four free throws combined from Will Francis and Walston over the final 56.8 seconds.
Foster led Oceanside in the loss with 16 points and six rebounds. Cohen Galley added 10 points and six rebounds, while Ripley also had 10 points, five rebounds, and four blocked shots. Carter Galley chipped in nine points. The Mariners had a great season as the runner-up, finishing at 21-1 and had been outscoring their opponents by an average of 38 points on their way to winning the South Regional Title. Walston had 16 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals for Orono. Will Francis was huge in the scoring column as well as on the glass, finishing with a double double with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists. Ben Francis contributed seven points, while Soderberg, Kenney, and Schaff each chipped in six points a piece. The Red Riots finish at 19-3, winning another gold basketball after entering the North Regional Tournament as the #4 seed.
Recap by Chris Lessner/Photos by Anthony DelMonaco
