RICHMOND — The way the Richmond High School boys basketball team played from the opening tip of Friday night’s Class C South contest with Old Orchard Beach, there was little doubt that the Bobcats were going to run away with a big victory.

The Bobcats led 18-7 after a quarter, a lead that extended out to 26-11 midway through the second quarter. Penetration to the basket, lay-ups and kick-outs for 3- pointers were the norm for the hosts.

But, the second half told a different story, as the Seagulls of the Western Maine Conference slowed Richmond, tying the game with less than three seconds remaining and outscoring the Bobcats 12-2 in overtime for a 68-58 come-from-behind victory.

The game came down to free throws, with Richmond (9-5) unable to secure the contest in the fourth quarter thanks to a 3- of-8 performance at the charity stripe. For the game, the Bobcats made just 7-of-17 from the line.

“Free throws were huge and it came down to that,” said Richmond coach Jon Spear, whose Bobcats head to Vinalhaven for a pair of East-West Conference games today and Tuesday before finishing the regular season at Valley on Wednesday. “We had several chances to put the game away and we didn’t do it. There were many things that we could have done better.”

Leading 55-54 with 10 seconds remaining in regulation, Zach Small, who had 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Richmond, made 1-of-2 at the line.

OOB (12-4) countered, with Zach Hirst scoring from the paint with 2.8-ticks left, sending the game into overtime.

From there, Evan Christensen took over. He twice was able to get inside and finish as the Seagulls scored the final 12 points. Christensen had a game-high 20 points, pulled down 10 rebounds, blocked two shots and had five steals. Point guard Erik Hogan scored five of his 16 points in the extra period, all coming from the freethrow line.

There was little that went wrong for Richmond in the opening eight minutes. Small and Matt Holt used their speed to penetrate the OOB defense. They either finished or kicked the ball outside for an open trey, shots that found their mark.

“We knew they were going to play a zone against us, so we wanted to penetrate and look for the open people, and for my guys it was the confidence in making those shots,” said Spear after his Bobcats shot 50 percent (13-of-26) from the floor and made five 3-pointers in the opening 24 minutes for a 32-21 halftime lead. “We spread them out a little bit, and that opened up some things inside.”

Holt had nine points in the first half, with Cody Tribbet picking up eight points and Tyler Soucy seven. Small was all over the court, scoring five first-half points, dishing out five assists and pulling down four rebounds.

After committing just four turnovers in the first half, Richmond struggled as the Seagulls switched to a half-court trap. This change defensively kept the Bobcats from finding room in the offensive zone, leading to eight third-quarter turnovers and swing in momentum.

“Turnovers were huge, and they brought those traps to the outside and we were having to make a decision a little bit earlier,” said Spear. “We tried to split somebody and we turned the ball over.”

A four-point play by Ian Regan (15 points) brought the Seagulls to 33-27, and Hogan stepped back and drilled a 3-pointer to get OOB to within three moments later.

Spear called a timeout, a move that seemed to stem the OOB march. Tribbet’s third of four 3-pointers was followed by a free throw from Small for a 37-30 Richmond lead.

Trailing by seven, Hogan sent the Seagulls into the third-quarter break by nailing a 25-foot trey at the buzzer, closing OOB to 40-35 through 24 minutes.

A pair of missed free throws early in the fourth quarter prevented Richmond from extending out to a double-digit lead, and OOB again stole the momentum, using a 10-5 spurt to close to 48-47 with 4:13 on the clock.

Hirst’s first points gave OOB a brief lead, 49-48, but Holt answered with a shot from behind the arc as Richmond held the lead until late in regulation.

“I think we can play with anybody if we play to our potential, and we certainly played up to our potential in the first half today,” said Spear. “We need to just finish games off a little bit better.”

In overtime, Holt gave Richmond a 58- 56 lead. But, Christensen twice scored from in close, the second putting OOB ahead to stay. Regan made 3-of-4 at the line, with Hogan swishing 5-of-6 to close out the Bobcats.

Sam Custeau had 13 rebounds and blocked four shots for OOB, with Hogan dishing out six assists.