AUGUSTA, Maine — Things weren’t looking good for the defending Class A North champion Oceanside Mariners late Saturday afternoon.
Junior forward Michael Norton Jr., who had scored 27 points, fouled out with 2:10 left and the Rockland-Thomaston team clinging to a 46-44 lead in its regional quarterfinal against Nokomis of Newport at the Augusta Civic Center.
And free-throw shooting to protect that slimmest of leads? That was an iffy proposition at best for the Mariners, much better known for the 3-point shooting barrage that carried them to the school’s first title a year ago.
Yet Oceanside made just enough from the line — 7 of 11 over the final 96 seconds — to escape with a 53-49 victory and earn a return trip to Wednesday’s semifinals.
“We didn’t play particularly well, we missed a lot of threes and we didn’t shoot foul shots well down the stretch, but we were able to survive,” said Oceanside coach Matt Breen. “We kept our composure, which if we hadn’t had a little experience here last year we probably wouldn’t have been able to do.”
Third-seeded Oceanside (16-3) faces No. 7 Cony of Augusta in the semifinals after the Rams knocked off No. 2 Hampden Academy 60-48.
No. 6 Nokomis ended its season at 11-8.
Nokomis did get two chances to tie or take the lead after Nate Raye made 1 of 2 from the line to give Oceanside a 51-49 lead with 22.3 seconds left, but Zach Hartsgrove came up short on a contested floater from the lane and later missed a deep 3-point attempt from the right wing.
Oceanside sophomore Cooper Wirkala then put the game away, making two free throws with 2.3 seconds left.
“I was happy we were able to make enough free throws,” said Breen, “and I was extremely happy when Coop was there for the final two because he’s been shooting about 90 percent.”
Norton generated his offense in a variety of fashions — primarily by roaming through the low post, slashing drives through the lane, grabbing offensive rebounds and converting layups off steals.
“We don’t really know what Michael’s game is,” said Breen. “The biggest key for Michael is for us not to harness him. He’s got a motor like nobody else on the court, and a lot of the stuff he gets is just from outworking somebody.”
Sophomore guard Jack Lombardo came off the bench to add nine points for Oceanside, while Raye scored six points, including four fourth-quarter free throws.
“The kids battled and were able to pull it out without playing their best basketball,” said Breen. “Now we’ve got to go back to work and really focus on doing things a little better.
Josh Smestad paced Nokomis with 22 points while Hartsgrove finished with 17.
Oceanside outscored Nokomis 16-4 to take a 24-22 halftime lead thanks in large part to Norton’s 12 first-half points and two 3-pointers by Lombardo that helped the Mariners erase an 18-8 first-quarter deficit.
