When the ball came off the rim, most likely a Yarmouth player was going to be there to grab it. Getting to the glass is a point of emphasis for the Clippers, said captain Peter Psyhogeos, and they proved it throughout Friday’s 63-43 win over Oceanside in a Class B South boys’ basketball quarterfinal at the Portland Expo.
Yarmouth grabbed 34 rebounds, including 10 offensive, to the Mariners’ 19.
“We knew (Oceanside) had a big guy, but we aggressively attack the glass,” said Psyhogeos, who finished with 12 rebounds and 13 points. “A lot of rebounding is wanting to go get the ball.”
Second-seeded Yarmouth (17-3) will face No. 3 York (14-2) in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Expo. No. 7 Oceanside ends the season at 14-5.
York and Yarmouth met once in the regular season, with Yarmouth taking a 55-54 overtime win on opening night, Dec. 10.
Losing the rebounding battle by so much was an aberration for the Mariners, Coach Larry Reed said.
“We rebound the ball pretty well. That was a complete team effort by (Yarmouth) getting to the rim,” Reed said.
Yarmouth began to pull away in the second quarter, after Oceanside’s Carter Galley hit a long 3-pointer as the first quarter ended to tie the game at 12-12. The Clippers outscored Oceanside 18-5 in the second, getting out in transition to create opportunities.
“Our defense often leads to our offense, and running in transition helped a lot,” Psyhogeos said.
Four Clippers finished in double figures: Psyhogeos, Matt Waeldner (16 points), Stevie Walsh (11 points), and Cole Snyder (18 points). Snyder was the outlier, with his 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field and 6-for-9 at the line resulting in his career-high point total.
“It was the occasion. I wanted to step up,” said Snyder, who scored 15 points in the second half and grabbed seven rebounds.
“We expected (Psyhogeos and Waeldner) to score, but we didn’t count on Snyder. He did some damage,” Reed said.
The Clippers closed the third quarter with an 8-0 run to push their lead to 49-28 and led by as many as 26 in the fourth.
Galley led Oceanside with 21 points.
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