After falling behind 25-21 in the first half, and trailing by as many as nine points, the Seagulls would outpace the Saints 9-5 in the third and 12-7 in the fourth to complete the comeback.
OOB improves to 4-0 on the season, and once again came from behind after erasing a 16-point deficit against Cape Elizabeth earlier in the season.
“I think we did a nice job today. I don’t know what it is, it seems like in the first quarter things don’t fall. I thought we had some good looks but we turned it over too much in the first half,” said OOB coach Dean Plante. “It wasn’t our guards necessarily, we turned it over in the post. I think our bigs as the season goes on will find more points from the inside out. St. Dom’s is a pretty quality team … you have to grind them out sometimes.”
OOB came out more aggressive in the third, and began to win the rebound battle while also creating more turnovers and penalties. Despite a relatively quiet game on offense, the Lady Gulls were able to use their press and physicality to take over down the stretch.
“We made more of an effort to go after them. We got some of their bigs into foul trouble and we wanted to work inside out. We didn’t make a lot of shots but we forced a lot of fouls and down the stretch it helped us,” said Dean Plante.
OOB went on an 8-0 run late in the fourth to build a six-point lead, but the Saints would hit a 3-pointer to pull within three with 17 seconds remaining. OOB rose to the occasion and successfully inbounded the ball to force free throws and put the game away.
“We do a good job of getting the ball in bounds so it was just a matter of whether they would get fouled or turn it over. We threw it up, executed, girls got it to the first option on the inbound and did a nice job. The girls stayed composed, I might not have been after the first quarter but we came together in the second half,” said Dean Plante.
Shani Plante led the Lady Gulls with 10 points while Julia Clark added eight and Megan LaPlante seven.
Perhaps OOB’s top player was senior guard Bri Plante, who helped facilitate the offense and create open looks down the stretch.
“Tonight we needed someone to step up and Bri as a senior guard did a nice job tonight. She got the ball in the right spots. I thought Bri played a really nice game from start to finish and kept us in it,” said Dean Plante.
OOB has been on a mission this year to make another deep postseason run like it did last year. The Lady Gulls are confident, and are continuing to learn in each game.
“I think last year and going to the regional final, there’s a confidence in them and they never think they’re out of it,” said Dean Plante. “They’ve been in tough situations, played in front of a big crowd in Augusta, and learned a lot after a pretty bad loss. They have that confidence.”
— 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.
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