THE MORSE HIGH SCHOOL boys basketball team hosted Oceanside on Saturday. In the top photo, Morse’s Liam McDonough (31) tries to dribble around Oceanside’s David Harrison (23), while in the bottom photo, Ted Cole (12) of Morse drives to the hoop against Oceanside defender Sam Meklin.
For eight minutes, the Morse High School boys were doing the things that win ball games: good shot selection, driving for loose balls, playing tough defense.
Oceanside tied the game at 16 with 4:30 left in the first half on a Tyler Gilson offensive rebound and putback, and the visitors built up a 31- 23 halftime lead.
Things didn’t get much better for the hosts. With five minutes gone in the third quarter, Morse was outscored 14-2 and led in fouls 6-0.
Morse, which shot nine of 36 from the floor through 24 minutes, fell apart in the third quarter, resulting in several hard fouls as the Mariners went to the hoop. Oceanside finally took the press off in the fourth quarter, but Morse still fouled, resulting in 25 second- half foul shots and 17 makes.
Fourteen Oceanside players scored, led by Ben Wallace with 13 and Shea Davenport and Isaiah Stone-Patterson with nine each. Sam Meklin led in rebounds with eight and Gilson had seven.
For Morse, now 4- 10 and scheduled to host Lincoln Academy on Tuesday, Matt Munster had 13 points and 12 rebounds, Ted Cole nine points and Cody Snyder eight.
At the foul line, Oceanside wound up 21 of 33, while Morse was nine of 15.
“ They ramped up their intensity and we didn’t,” said Morse coach Todd Flaherty. “And, that was at both ends of the court. They’re a good team, but we’ve got to play better than that.”
First-quarter spurt
Morse trailed early 8-4, but a Cole 3-pointer with 2:11 left sparked the Shipbuilders into a 10- 0 run, capped off by a D’Vaughn Myers 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Oceanside, 10-5 and ranked No. 9 in Eastern Maine Class B, came out for the second quarter with a different mindset and endline-to-endline attack which Morse could not match.
“I think at the beginning of each quarter, or for the first two or three minutes, we had more turnovers than shots,” added Flaherty. “The overall theme was they stepped up their intensity and we didn’t.”
Oceanside gained control in the second quarter and went up 20-16, but a Cody Snyder trey with 2: 31 left cut the Mariners’ lead to 22-21. However, the visitors closed with a 9-2 run and led 31-23 at the intermission.
Oceanside continued attacking the offensive boards in the third period and a 12-0 run put its advantage at 43-23. Oceanside was only four of 18 from the floor, but Morse took only 11 shots and made one.
Oceanside 64,
Morse 44
Oceanside (64)
Davenport 3- 2- 9, Maloney 0- 2- 2,
Philbrick 1-0-2, Gilson 2-1-6, Harrison 0-
0-0, Grindle 0-2-2, Meklin 1-5-7, Judge
1-1-3, Gould 0-1-1, B. Wallace 5-2-13, A.
Wallace 1-0-3, Hendricks 1-0-3, Stone-
Patterson 3-1-9, Zable 0-4-4.
Morse (44)
Cole 3-2-9, McKellar 0-0-o, McDonough
0-0-0, Fone 2-0-4, Munster 5-3-13, Freeman 2-1-5, Moore 0-0-0, Snyder 2-3-8,
Myers 1-0-3, Paulus 1-0-2.
3-point field goals — (O) Stone-Patterson
2, Davenport, Gilson, B. Wallace, A. Wallace,
Hendricks; (M) Cole, Snyder, Myers.
Records — Oceanside 10-5; Morse 4-
10.
Up next for Morse — Hosting Lincoln
Academy on Tuesday (7 p.m.).
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