OLD ORCHARD BEACH — The Old Orchard Beach girls basketball team got off to a hot start against Greater Portland Christian Thursday night and never looked back, as the Seagulls jumped out to a 17-2 lead, eventually downing the Lions 79-45.
Christina Colman and Haley Plante combined to hit three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game to get the Seagulls off to a fast start. Colman continued to lead the way in the first quarter, as she scored 10 of her 14 points to give the home team a 25-7 lead after the first eight minutes.
“I didn’t think we would come out that strong, that fast,” said senior Anna Foss. “We knew we had to, but it was good to see that we could get those type of results that fast.”
It was a game on paper that Old Orchard Beach was favored in, as Greater Portland Christian is a Class D opponent. Head coach Dean Plante said they haven’t always come out strong when they play those types of teams.
“We talked about not waiting. A couple times this year, teams that we’re probably better than, we let them hang around in the first quarter, and then put them away in the second,” said Plante. “I thought the girls came out focused.”
The fast start might have also been a curse for the Seagulls, as the Lions cut into the lead early in the second quarter. Plants called a timeout when Greater Portland Christian cut the deficit to 31-19 midway through the quarter, before any kind of comeback could begin.
“That timeout wasn’t strategy or X’s and O’s, that was let’s regroup and get refocused. I said about two things and walked away, and let them talk,” Plante said of the only timeout he would use all game.
“We mostly said that we had to step our game up,” Foss said of what the team talked about after Plante said his ”˜two words.’ “We weren’t playing at the level that we knew we could.”
That was all the Seagulls would need to get themselves back on track and keep a safe distance from their visitors. They finished the half strong, with Abby Dubois’ foul line jumper with two seconds left making it a 41-23 game at halftime.
Plante said his halftime speech was also short, as there wasn’t much to say with an 18-point lead.
“The only thing I said at halftime is you can’t be a sometimes team. You have to play hard all the time,” said Plante.
The game was never in doubt during the second half, but the Seagulls fell asleep on defense a couple times. Clarissa Jones and Elaine Beech used their size advantage against the smaller Seagulls and had their way in the paint. Jones and Beech combined to score 22 of their 34 points after halftime, when Old Orchard Beach relaxed on a full court press that made getting the ball inside difficult.
Foss said that the team is usually strong on defense, and that they need to sure things up come playoff time.
“We’re just going to need to play better defense overall, because as we get deeper into the season, the teams are just going to keep on getting better,” said Foss.
Plante noted that his team lacks size, saying “we dress 12 guards.” He said against the better teams they can’t just run up and down the court, so a better defensive effort than what they showed against Greater Portland Christian will be needed.
Still, as bad as Plante thought his team played on defense in the second half, they continued to stretch the lead. Dubois scored nine of her team-high 17 points in the second half, and Kelsey Custeau scored 10 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Foss also chipped in with 13 points, and sparked the team with her energy for much of the first three quarters, before getting a much-deserved break in the fourth.
The Seagulls are now 10-4 and right behind Waynflete, the only team in Class C to beat them, in the heal point standings.
— Contact Wil Kramlich at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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