Thomas Coyne limped off the court just before halftime, giving veteran Falmouth High boys’ basketball coach Dave Halligan a scare.

“I thought we might not have him for the second half, but there was no way he was going to stay out of the second half of that game,” Halligan said.

Jack Bryant of Falmouth tries to fight through the Brunswick defense on a drive to the basket past Corban Teel in the Class A championship game Saturday at Cross Insurance Arena. Falmouth won, 58-44. John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Coyne “tweaked” his ankle with 11 seconds left before the half. He had it taped up tight during halftime, returned just before the second half, then scored 13 of his game-high 21 points to lead Falmouth to a 58-44 win over Brunswick in the Class A South final Saturday night at the Cross Insurance Arena.

“I rolled it, tweaked it. It happens a lot in basketball,” Coyne said. “It wasn’t that bad, and I’ll be a week to rehab and get healthy for next week so I’ll be fine.”

Falmouth will face Oceanside (16-5), the surprise fifth-seed champion from the North, in Saturday’s 3 p.m., Class A final at the CIA.

The teams didn’t meet this season. Falmouth’s last state title appearance was in 2013 when it won the Class B championship.

Against Brunswick, Falmouth raced to an 8-0 lead and never trailed.

“Falmouth is an excellent team and obviously their two guards are as good as anybody,” Brunswick Coach Todd Hanson said. “They are very difficult to play catch-up with and unfortunately we were behind from the get-go.”

Coyne and his brother Colin were able to control tempo, ranging from deliberate to attack mode. The attack was highlighted by consecutive lob passes from Thomas, then Colin Coyne, to Sam Skop in the fourth quarter that helped put it away.

Colin Coyne had 14 points and four assists without a turnover. Skop added nine points and nine assists.

In its 65-53 semifinal win against top-seeded Greely, Brunswick had a similar slow start but was used relentless defensive pressure to create offense and force bad shots. Brunswick never could rattle Falmouth, which had only six turnovers.

“It’s a veteran group with some good ballhandlers and we’ve played one of the toughest schedules in the state,” Halligan said. “Night in and night out is under pressure so they’re used to that, and big-time players showed up in a big-time game, namely Thomas and Colin Coyne.”

“I think we did a good job of controlling the pace on offense,” Thomas Coyne said. “I think that’s always been a philosophy of ours and really, any good team. You always want to control pace.”

Falmouth had control through the first half and led 26-19 at the break behind eight points from Thomas Coyne, slick assists from Colin Coyne and two 3-pointers by Sean Walsh.

Caleb Cost’s 11 second-quarter points kept the Dragons in range. Cost finished with 17 for Brunswick (15-6). Thomas Hanson scored 11.

Thomas Coyne, a Mr. Maine Basketball semifinalist, seemed a bit cautious, testing his ankle gradually in the first minutes of the second half.

“As the game went on it loosened up and I felt fine,” Thomas Coyne said.

Brunswick cut Falmouth’s lead to 29-27 early in the third quarter. Corban Teel scored twice in the post and Cost tipped in his own miss for a 6-0 run.

Falmouth answered with a Thomas Coyne hoop and a Colin Coyne steal and layup. After Hanson hit a jumper, Thomas Coyne closed the quarter with a 3-pointer, then a pair of free throws with 0.2 seconds left in the quarter after a driving attempt for a 38-29 lead.

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