ROCKLAND — Even before it took the floor, in front of the packed stands and raucous fans, the Oceanside girls basketball team was told of the environment that awaited it.
And told to embrace it.
“I said ‘Look, this is like a tournament game,'” coach Matt Breen said. “‘This is what we play for. This is what we’ve been built around. We love to play in games like this.'”
The Mariners passed their stiffest test of the season Tuesday night, dealing Gardiner its first loss, 67-57, behind 25 points from freshman Olivia Breen and 21 from senior Renee Ripley.
Oceanside, ranked No. 6 in the latest Varsity Maine poll and No. 1 in the Class B South Heal point standings, is 14-1. Gardiner (12-1), No. 1 in Class B North and No. 7 in the Varsity Maine poll, was led by 14 points from Madison McMahon.
“I was just happy with the way we competed. We came out intense,” Matt Breen said. “We were pretty focused on the task at hand, and they competed for 32 minutes, which we haven’t been doing all year.”
The Mariners, who have made four straight Class B South finals and won two state titles in that span, didn’t need much motivation.
“We approached this like we needed this win. We’re hungry, we lost one already,” said Olivia Breen, who added eight rebounds. “We needed to put our foot down and show them what we really are.”
What they really are, as Tuesday night showed, is a team that can score from anywhere. In the middle of the Mariners’ attack was Breen, who fought for putbacks, navigated around double teams and showcased fine footwork and touch around the basket.
It was one of the Mariners’ more veteran players, however, who allowed Oceanside to pull away. Ripley, a dangerous sharpshooter the past two seasons, knocked down three 3-pointers en route to an 11-point second quarter, helping the Mariners go ahead 29-22 at the break.
“We did very well keeping our composure,” Ripley said. “It was a crazy atmosphere, it kind of reminded me of a playoff atmosphere.”
Ripley showcased that composure after picking up her fourth foul with 1:46 to go in the third quarter and Oceanside up 41-33. She re-entered for the fourth and helped take the Mariners to the finish, scoring nine points and finding Breen for a pair of baskets in the final two and a half minutes to stifle Gardiner’s rally.
“I just keep my head level for my team,” Ripley said. “Being here for four years, I’ve had the experience of these close games. (I focus on) keeping composed and being there for my team. They find me and I find them, we just work very well together.”
The combination of Breen near the basket and outside shooting from Ripley and Abby Stackpole (13 points) proved a lethal one to the Tigers.
“(Breen’s) tough, she’s a great player, she’s really strong inside and we didn’t defend her as well,” Gardiner coach Britney Gero said. “And then when we started doubling, they started hitting outside shots. They got hot, we didn’t.”
The Tigers trailed by as many as 12 but got the lead down to 52-46 on a 3-pointer by Zoey Sullivan-Brennan (11 points) with 3:25 to go. A pair of Grace Mackie free throws and a Breen basket from a Ripley feed with 2:20 left pushed the lead back up to 56-46.
Still, Matt Breen said, it provided the Mariners with a lesson.
“We gave up too many open 3s at the end of the game with a 10-point lead,” he said. “I don’t want to foul them and have the clock stop. All little details that’ll make a big difference if they hit an extra 3.”
And that could make a difference if they meet again in the season’s last game.
“We’re going to let that one sting, we’re going to grow from it, we’re going to learn,” Gero said. “Maybe we’ll see them again at states.”
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