OLD ORCHARD BEACH — The Old Orchard Beach boys basketball team has already reached a milestone this season, breaking through the semifinal round and getting a chance to play for a Western Maine Class C title.

As the Seagulls are on the verge of playing their most important game of the season, they find themselves in a familiar role: Underdogs.

Though Old Orchard Beach is the hottest team in the Western C tournament, when the Gulls hit the floor tonight at the Augusta Civic Center (tip-off scheduled for 8:45 p.m.), most of the attention will be paid to defending regional champion and No. 1 seed, Dirigo. The Cougars are 19-1 on the season, while the Gulls, the No. 6 seed, are 13-7.

After the Gulls upset No. 2 seed Waynflete 63-42 on Thursday night, the Cougars proceeded to beat the tar out of Hall-Dale, winning 90-31. Four players scored 10 points or more against Hall-Dale, with forward Cody St. Germain leading the way with a game-high 20 points.

Neither team played against each other during the regular season.

“Dirigo has had a sensational season,” Old Orchard Beach head coach John Regan said.

While Dirigo is heavily favored, there is reason to believe the Gulls can pull a possible upset, or if nothing else, provide a much more entertaining game than the Bulldogs provided against the Cougars on Thursday.

Regan said he’s likely to give his team the same speech before the regional final that he gave before the semifinal.

“I try to make them realize to enjoy the moment,” Regan said. “Enjoy this, because you don’t get these opportunities a lot.”

Or in the Gulls case, since 1994, where they moved on to the Class C final, losing 82-65 to Schenck.

The Gulls were able to take the rhythm out of the Flyers’ game on Thursday night, playing with a zone defense that forced nine turnovers out of Waynflete in the first quarter alone. Old Orchard Beach had two scorers with 10 or more points, 12 coming from guard Joe Gildard, and 23 coming from forward Quincy Grace.

Grace, a junior, was a non-factor in the first four games of the season, but as the Gulls’ season heated up, so did Grace, now the leading scorer for Old Orchard Beach at 13.7 points per game. He’s averaged 18 points per game in the playoffs.

“Quincy has just really come on, he really has,” Regan said. “From the beginning of the year to now, he’s a different player. He’s taking the ball to the basket, he’s hitting his 15-footers, playing good defense and rebounding. He’s a force.”

Gildard, a sophomore, was averaging six points per game during the regular season. But during the playoffs, Gildard has become the Gulls’ Jeremy Lin, scoring half of his season total in their three playoff games, averaging 16 points per game in the playoffs.

Add the benefit of having another scorer in guard Andrew Fleury (10 points per game), plus the added play of Anthony Langella-Laws and Mike Rague, and you have a recipe for success.

“They play that 2-3 zone well,” Dirigo head coach Travis Magnusson said. “They really get their hands in the passing lanes. They’re a good team. They’ve shot the ball very well this tournament.

“You know it’s going to be a battle on Saturday night.”

Dirigo’s only loss of the season came at the hands of Spruce Mountain (a Class B team) on Feb. 8. In the playoffs, the Cougars have won both of their contests by a margin of 31 points and 59 points, respectively.

Magnusson said the Cougars’ shooting success will be their biggest weapon heading into tonight’s game.

“Our big focus the last two days was to bring a lot of focus and a lot of energy,” Magnusson said. “The biggest thing we did was shoot the ball well (against Hall-Dale), which bodes well, because Old Orchard runs a lot of zone.”

The story of the Gulls’ magical season could end tonight, already riding the high of going to their first regional championship in 18 years.

But maybe, just maybe, there’s still one more game left in Old Orchard Beach.