Three hundred and fifty-nine days after their 2023 state championship basketball game came down to the last shot, Orono and Oceanside will meet again in the Class B boys title game at 7:45 p.m. Friday, at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
The reigning champion Red Riots and 21-0 Mariners have returned virtually their entire rosters from last year — including Orono’s lionhearted point guard Pierce Walston and Oceanside’s quick-hitting Galley twins — setting up one of the most highly anticipated state finals in recent memory.
The players and coaches themselves haven’t been immune to the anticipation either, and as all true champions do, have deep respect for their upcoming opponent.
“Oceanside’s tremendously explosive, they have the leading scorer in the state (Carter Galley at 28.8 ppg) and will be a handful as they were last year,” Orono head coach Ed Kohtala said. “I know they haven’t forgotten that we had the good fortune of knocking them off last year, and I know they fully intend to do that when they come here. It should be a great state championship game.”
Last year, Carter and Cohen Galley combined for 38.8 points and 6.3 assists per game — including 39 points against Orono in the state finals. This year, the twins have taken it to a whole other level, individually eclipsing 1,000 career points and combining for 51.7 points and 7.9 assists per game.
Walston also crossed the 1,000-point threshold this year, and Orono teammates Ben and Will Francis combined for an additional 22 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists per game.
“I’m very excited — always looking forward to playing high levels of competition,” Senior power forward Ben Francis said. “We really gotta try to slow down the brothers and Zeb Foster, play at our pace and make sure we get a good shot every time down the floor. They’re a high powered offensive team, so locking in on the defensive end and limiting our turnovers will be clear.”
Class B South tournament MVP Cohen Galley echoed Francis’ sentiments.
“Yeah, definitely excited to be back,” Galley said. “I think we’re a different team this year, but Orono is definitely very talented and has experience with their upperclassmen leaders. Gonna have to play defense for 32 minutes and not come out with a slow start.”
With a 15-3 regular season record and the No. 4 seed heading into the tournament, Orono conquered a gauntlet of a bracket, defeating No. 5 Caribou 55-47, No. 1 Ellsworth 53-38, and finally No. 3 Old Town 58-44. In all three wins, Walston, the Francis brothers and company took first quarter leads and played flawless basketball down the stretch, icing games with their level headedness and championship pedigree.
Meanwhile, Oceanside played rather strangely in the regional quarterfinals and semifinals, trailing 10-0 against No. 8 Mountain Valley early in the first quarter, and then leading No. 4 Medomak Valley just 8-4 after one.
It was a similar story for both Orono and Oceanside in the 2022-23 title game at the Portland Expo — Orono took a 13-5 lead early on and extended its lead to 55-42 with 3:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Galley brothers retaliated with three deep 3-pointers in the final two minutes, but it was too little, too late. Final score: 61-58.
