OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Up by 12 with eight minutes to go, the Wells girls basketball team looked to be on its way to a solid, if nondescript, win over Old Orchard Beach on Saturday.

The Seagulls, however, had something to say about that, and nearly turned a fourth-quarter run into an unlikely overtime victory.

After dropping back into a 2-3 zone and failing to get much going on the offensive end for three quarters, OOB changed its tactics in the fourth quarter and went on a run, erasing a 12-point deficit to take a 47-46 lead on Kelsey Custeau’s third 3-pointer of the quarter with 2:25 left in regulation.

The Warriors battled back to send the game into overtime, taking a 54-50 with 33 seconds left in the first extra period. But again the Seagulls came back, getting to within one on a Julia Fregeau 3 and sending things into another OT with a Custeau free throw.

OOB then went up 59-58 midway through the extra period, but Wells scored the next five points and freshman Ally O’Brien hit two free throws to clinch a dramatic 65-61 Warriors victory.

“Both teams had chances to win the game, there’s no doubt about that,” Wells coach Don Abbott said. “It’s a good learning experience for us, I guess. It was good to have to play a team that came at us for 40 minutes.”

“All the clichés you use all year long came to fruition; this group of girls laid it all out there against a really good team,” said OOB coach Dean Plante. “The kids bought into the game plan and stayed with it.”

It was all Wells (9-1) early as Alison Furness ripped into the Old Orchard Beach (5-3) zone, scoring 14 of her game-high 26 points in the first eight minutes to stake the Warriors to a 20-9 lead.

“She’s the one that we morphed our zone to defend, and she made us pay early,” Plante said of Furness. “You key on her, and she still scores.”

Wells held on the double-digit lead for the next two quarters, but after sagging back into the 2-3 all game to combat the Warriors’ height advantage, the Seagulls started the fourth in a full-court press.

It worked, forcing six turnovers and speeding up what had been a poised Wells offense. And on the other end, the Seagulls started to fire, hitting three of their first four shots of the quarter ”“ including two Custeau 3’s ”“ to cut the Wells lead to 45-39.

“I think we all of a sudden started to play uncharacteristically tentative,” Abbott said. “It looked like we were playing not to make mistakes instead of trying to attack, which is usually our calling card. We started to tighten up, they made a couple big 3’s and the lead starts creeping down.”

It crept down even more as a Mackenzie Rague lay up, two Abby Dubois free throws and another Custeau 3 gave the Seagulls a 46-45 edge ”“ their first lead since 2-0 ”“ with 2:25 left.

Furness responded with a put back off an offensive rebound, and a Fregeau free throw tied things up with 1:52 to go.

“That’s what we do; we usually shoot anywhere from 20 to 25 3’s a game based on our size,” said Plante, whose team jacked up 40 from behind the arc in all, making 11. “It was nice to see some girls hit those 3’s.”

As it would turn out, those would be the last points in regulation, although Custeau came close to bringing the house down when her 35-foot heave at the buzzer just missed.

The teams would then scrap through the first overtime, and Sophie Lamb ”“ scorer of two points in the first 36 minutes ”“ would come up huge for Wells in the second OT, scoring six points, four of them off offensive rebounds, and assisting on a Furness lay up that put the Warriors up for good at 60-59.

“That’s her M.O. She’s our in the trenches kind of guy and she does a really good job of seeking the ball,” Abbott said of Lamb. “Those put backs were huge.”

And with Wells up 63-61 with nine seconds left, O’Brien knocked down a pair of free throws two salt the win away. It was a big cameo for a freshman who had just entered the game cold after starting point guard Nicole Moody fouled out.

“That’s a great coming-of-age opportunity for her,” Abbott said. “The game was obviously still in the balance, and we needed both of them or we probably would have been headed to triple overtime. I liked that she was able to stick both of those so there was no doubt.”

In addition to Furness’ 26, Stephanie Woods had nine points for Wells, while Lamb, Moody and Jordan Agger totaled eight apiece.

Custeau led the Seagulls with 16, while Fregeau and Lauralee Small both had 10, and Haley Plante chipped in nine.

— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or cdunbar@journaltribune.com.