The Orono Red Riots held off a high-scoring Oceanside team late to earn the 61-58 win and a Class B boys basketball state title Tuesday night at the Portland Expo.
No. 3 Orono upped its lead to 10 points in the third quarter before late baskets from Cohen Galley and Alex Collins pulled No. 1 Oceanside within 44-38 after three quarters.
Pierce Walston stole the ball near midcourt early in the fourth and scored a tough layup that gave Orono a 48-40 lead 90 seconds in.
Ben Francis tallied his second steal of the quarter and scored a fastbreak layup that gave the Red Riots a 52-42 lead with 5:30 to play in the state title game.
Will Francis notched a steal with 3:30 left and went coast to coast for a layup in traffic that continued Orono’s run and gave the Red Riots a 55-42 advantage.
Carter Galley stopped the run with a layup over Will Francis with 2:45 to play, cutting the Mariners’ deficit to 11.
Galley cut the Orono lead to single digits with a floater in the lane with two minutes left.
After a full-court inbounds pass from Ben to Will Francis for a layup, Cohen Galley sank a triple with 1:30 to play. Orono quickly found Ben Francis for a layup and a foul. Francis missed the first but a lane violation gave him a second free throw, which the junior made to give Orono a 60-49 lead with 1:24 to go.
Cohen Galley hit another 3-pointer and Walston missed the front-end of a one-and-one. Carter Galley then hit a corner triple to cut the Red Riots’ lead to five with 55 seconds left.
Will Francis also missed the front-end of a one and one with 50 seconds remaining.
Oceanside missed back-to-back 3-point attempts and Orono’s Noah Schaff finally grabbed a rebound and found Ellis Spaulding, who was fouled with 14 seconds left.
With five seconds left, Carter Galley hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to cut the Orono lead to two.
With 2.7 seconds left, Caden Gray drilled his second free throw attempt to give Orono a 61-58 lead.
