Falmouth High suffocated Oceanside’s 3-point shooters. The Yachtsmen controlled the paint in terms of scoring and rebounding. Falmouth received big games from unsung players Matt Wulbrecht and Sam Skop. Star guards Thomas Coyne and Colin Coyne were their usual assertive, tempo-controlling selves.
It all added up to a dominating 59-28 victory Saturday against Oceanside in the Class A boys’ basketball state championship game at Cross Insurance Arena.
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Falmouth won the 2013 Class B title when its nine seniors were freshmen.
“We’ve been playing together for a long time, and basically going the highest you can, the state championship, it’s really special,” said Thomas Coyne, a Mr. Maine Basketball finalist.
Coyne led Falmouth with 16 points, but it was his sticky defense on Oceanside point guard Keenan Hendricks that set the tone.
“We knew he was their senior guard, leader, that everything was going through him and he got people open 3-point shots,” Coyne said. “I knew if I could take him away – not really take him away but just control him – then that would help the rest of the defense. Really, our whole team played unbelievable defense the whole game and took away what they wanted to do.”
Oceanside (16-6) set a Class A regional record and tied an all-class mark by making 30-pointers in the North regional.
Hendricks made his team’s first attempt – from NBA range. Oceanside missed the other eight it took in the first half and trailed 23-8. Three of the Mariners’ 3-pointers failed to touch the rim.
“We haven’t been here and it was clear they have been here and were very confident in what they were doing,” Oceanside Coach Matt Breen said. “We had some decent looks early, missed them, put ourselves in an early hole, which is what we talked about not wanting to do because Falmouth can control the basketball once you get behind.”
Breen tried to stem the tide, to no avail, with three first-half timeouts.
Falmouth defended the rim as well as it did the perimeter. Skop’s three first-quarter blocks effectively took Mariners center Nick Mazurek out of the game.
“He’s a hard player to guard because he’s fairly crafty under the hoop and he can shoot the 3,” Skop said. “I think it was just key for me to stay on my feet and not fall for any of his up-fakes. As a team, I think we played impeccable defense the entire game.”
Falmouth (18-4) held Oceanside to 10-of-46 shooting overall, just 5 of 20 on 3-pointers.
Skop, a 6-foot-5 center, scored eight points in the first half and was the first Falmouth player to reach double figures with an early third-quarter layup on a nice high-post pass from Wulbrecht.
Wulbrecht, also with a size advantage at 6-4, was the next to reach double figures, scoring nine of his 14 points in the third quarter as Falmouth extended its lead to 42-15.
“That’s the way it’s been throughout the tournament,” Falmouth Coach Dave Halligan said. “If they’re going to take something away, we’re going to make them pay. They shared the ball and got it to the open man, and good things happened for us.”
Colin Coyne added 11 points for Falmouth, which shot 21 of 48 overall, including 12 of 22 in the second half.
Riley Sprague was the high scorer for Oceanside with six points.
Oceanside’s 28 points were the least scored in a Class A final since Millinocket lost to Portland 28-23 in 1950.
“Defense has been our bread-and-butter all year,” Thomas Coyne said. “I think a good defense, you can win any game, and on offense, we controlled the tempo, but really it’s been our defense. If you hold (a team) to 28 points, you’re going to win.”
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