OLD ORCHARD BEACH — During the past month, the Old Orchard Beach boys basketball team has made winning look easy.
That continued Tuesday night as the Seagulls crushed visiting North Yarmouth Academy 57-40 as center Quincy Grace scored a season-high 27 points.
The win capped OOB’s eighth straight after the Seagulls started the season 2-6. OOB last lost to Poland 65-44 on Jan. 13.
Since then the Seagulls have put their game into overdrive winning by margins of 27, 63, 19, 43, 33, 4, 41 and 17.
During the streak, the Seagulls have only allowed one opponent to score in the 50s. Traip Academy did that in a 60-56 OOB win on Jan. 27. Other than that, no team has scored more than 40 points, and the Seagulls have twice held teams to less than 20 points. They even avenged an earlier season loss to Sacopee Valley with a 72-31 win on the road against Sacopee Feb. 2.
“It’s all about our defense,” Grace said. “Coach (John Regan) tells us to practice good team defense, and we have been doing that. Our offense feeds off the defense.”
Against NYA it was Grace who fed off the defense.
Grace scored 17 points in the first half as OOB bolted out to a 29-19 halftime lead.
NYA tried to make adjustments on the big man in the second half, but Grace used his 6-foot-3, 230-pound frame to move easily to the basket.
One play that highlighted his dominance came at 6:08 in the fourth quarter when he leaped over two NYA defenders for a putback score that gave OOB a 46-29 lead.
He went to work again less than a minute later when he received a feed inside and converted an uncontested layup, giving OOB a 48-29 lead with 5:11 to play.
“He’s really come a long way since the beginning of the season,” Regan said. “He has improved every game and every practice, and it’s beginning to show.”
Grace’s post presence opened up OOB’s perimeter shooting. As the NYA defense sagged on Grace, it left Anthony Langella-Laws open on the wing and he drained a 3-pointer, giving OOB a 51-31 lead with 4:30 left to play.
“Quincy allows the other players to step up,” Regan said. “They need to do that. If he has an off night, then someone else needs to step in and make plays.”
That happened Tuesday as Zack Seamans scored 11 points. Langella-Laws and Andrew Fleury each scored six and five points respectively. The win improved OOB to 10-6, and it is currently in sixth place in Western Maine Class C. The Seagulls finish the regular season on Friday night with a home game against Class B Freeport at 7 p.m.
“That’s a big game for us,” Regan said. “It’s going to be a good test before the playoffs.”
— Contact Al Edwards at 282-1535.
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