OLD ORCHARD BEACH — The No. 4 Old Orchard Beach girls basketball team cruised to a 59-21 win over visiting No. 7 North Yarmouth Academy in the opening round of the Class C South playoffs on Tuesday.

The Lady Gulls jumped out to and early 19-5 lead and never looked back, doubling NYA’s point total in each quarter to secure the win.

“We talked about jumping on them early … we’re young but we have some tournament experience,” said OOB coach Dean Plante. “We were at full strength tonight — Brianna Plante hasn’t played consistently due to an ankle injury and she brings a lot of defensive energy — we had some quick turnovers … she had three, four assists in the first quarter and a three (pointer). We also had Emily Greenlee and Myah Hebert make some shots … it was a great team effort.”

Greenlee also felt that OOB’s dominance began with its defense, pressuring NYA throughout the 32-minute affair.

“It was nice to have a lead like that at the beginning — it was because of our defense and our ball pressure. In the locker room we got fired up and worked hard as a team,” said Greenlee.

Strong defense has been OOB’s calling card all year, according to Plante.

“We can be pretty pesky when we’re at our best. I liked the way our bigs played tonight — Maggie Strohm gives us a chance to extend our zones since she’s an intimidator in the paint. We pride ourselves on our defense — we gameplan that way and we know the offense will come.”

Greenlee led OOB with 13 points scored, while Hebert finished with 11 and Meg LaPlante eight. 

Despite qualifying for the postseason as the fourth seed, the Lady Gulls finished the regular season on a low note by dropping their final two contests. 

A big reason was poor health, as OOB faced multiple injuries and a hectic schedule in the final weeks. Plante and company were relieved to earn the victory and get things back on the right track.

“We limped in (the playoffs) a little bit so it was good to have everyone back, we had six games in nine days so we had three good practices in a row and that gave us a chance to focus and prepare and to work on the basics,” said Plante. “It also calms them down, when you’re playing, playing, playing, sometimes kids don’t respond to that but we benefit from practice. A week off will be nice before going up to Augusta.”

Greenlee was also proud of her club, as the Lady Gulls have been determined to make some postseason noise this year.

“It felt good to get back in the win column, we’ve really wanted it. We’ve worked really hard this season to get here,” said Greenlee.

Although OOB is excited to advance to the Class C South quarterfinals in Augusta, it knows that there is still room for improvement and work to be done.

“We have to get better at taking care of the ball … we had too many unforced turnovers. When we go up against the top eight in Augusta, if you turn the ball over it’s a four-point swing and they’ll make you pay,” said Plante. “We had the talent tonight to overcome some of those mistakes tonight but it won’t be like that at the next level.”

For now, the Lady Gulls will shift their focus on fixing those errors, and preparing for what lies ahead up north.

“We just have to work hard at practice, we have to work hard at being good defenders and then the offense will follow,” said Greenlee.

— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.