Oceanside boys sweep Belfast on the hardwood

ROCKLAND – The Oceanside boys basketball program hosted Belfast Tuesday evening with three games, freshmen, JV, and varsity with the Mariners taking the win in all three games.

Oceanside's Jack Freeman, makes a pass around Belfast's Jason Bartlett. Oceanside won the game 80-56. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Click here for the Photo Gallery from the varsity game.
Click here for the Photo Gallery from the JV game
Click here for the Photo Gallery from the freshmen game


Varsity:
The Mariners came out on fire posting the first eight points and going on a 14-2 run to start the game. Things settled down a little as Belfast made a nice comeback to make it a game in the first half.

As he has been doing lately, Oceanside senior turned up the heat and took over the game in the third quarter scoring 11 of his 19 points. In the end, the Mariners ran away with the game finishing with an 80-56 win.

Despite the win, the Mariners (11-5) fell to No.5 in the Maine Principles Association Heal Point Standings in Class B North as Winslow surged in the standings when they knocked off No. 3 Showhegan in Class A. Belfast falls to 6-9 and is in ninth place in the standings. The top 11 teams make the playoffs.

With both Josh Peaco and Michael Norton Jr. in foul trouble early, senior Jack Freeman came in off the bench to fill that hole and did just that with an impressive performance on both sides of the ball. His performance earned him the co-player of the game from 106.9FM and Southend Grocery. Jack Lombardo who opened the game with some outstanding shooting to give the Mariners a big first half was the other co-player of the game.

Scoring for Oceanside was Cooper Wirkala with a game-high 22 points; Norton Jr. 19; Lombardo 14; Amos Anderson and Trevor Reed eight each; Freeman four; Brett Start three; and Josh Peaco two.

Oceanside was 10-of-15 (67 percent from the foul line. They had 10 3-point baskets, four each from Wirkala and Lombardo and one each from reed and Start. The Mariners were 10-of-25 from behind the arch.

For Belfast, Stanley Sturgis had a team-high 19 points; freshmen sensation Chris Kelley added 15; Dakoda Doolan and Dakota Payson six each; Jason Bartlett four; Aaron Fuller three; Wilder Magruder two; and Luke Lightner one.

Belfast was 12-of-20 (60 percent) from the foul line and they had eight 3-point baskets, three from Kelley, two from Sturgis and Doolan, and one from Fuller.

The two teams took 47 3-point shots hitting a combined 18 baskets.

Oceanside will host MCI Friday, Feb. 2 while Belfast will host Maranacook Friday.  Both games start at 6:30 p.m.

JV:
Oceanside took an early lead and never looked back as they handed visiting Belfast a 75-40 loss.

Oceanside's Jaden Martin puts a move on to score two of his game-high 26 points in the JV game. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Oceanside took a 19-16 first quarter lead and a 39-19 halftime advantage. At the end of three, the Mariners were up 57-33 and coasted to the win in the final stanza.

Scoring for the Mariners were Jaden Martin with a game-high 26 points; Brett Star 17; Elliot Lucier 12; Sam Vose seven; Cameron Kingsbury six; Karl Ilvonen, Dustin Cote, and Drew Daggett two each; and Nate Coombs one.

For Belfast, Dakota Payson had 21 points; Grady Doolan five; Cole Martin and Wilder Magruder three each; and Chase Sanders, Ethan Hall, and Lablanc two each.

Belfast ---- 16-3-14-7=40
Oceanside -19-20-18-18=75

Freshmen:
The Mariners took a close game in the end with a 51-48 win over Belfast.

The Lions took a 15-12 first quarter lead and held a 33-28 advantage at the half. Oceanside took over the third quarter and took a 39-36 lead into the final stanza where they held on for the 3-point win.

Oceanside's Cameron Kingsbury tries to stop a shot from Belfast's Tommy Walker. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Scoring for Oceanside was Cameron Kingsbury with 12 points; Drew Daggett and Nathan Coombs six each; Sam Miller five; Austin Pagano and Gavin Tower four each; Landon Willis and Aiden Munro three each; and Finnegan Lynch, Chance Shoemaker, Kevin Kostopoulos, and Sam Vose two each.

Belfast ------15-18-3-12=48
Oceanside---12-16-11-12=51

Oceanside JV coach Larry Reed, left, and freshmen coach Darren Randall talk the situation over before the start of the varsity game. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Oceanside's Jack Lombardo gets ready to toss up one of his baskets for the night. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Oceanside's Michael Norton Jr. puts a shot back up. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Belfast's Chris Kelley puts up a three-point basket from the baseline corner. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)