What would Larry Reed have said if you told him Carter Galley would have no points through three quarters of a Class B South boys’ basketball semifinal?

“I would say ‘We’re going to lose by 30,'” the Oceanside coach said.

Instead, the Mariners just found another way to win. Cohen Galley scored 17 points, Trevin Ripley added 11 points and seven rebounds, and top-seeded Oceanside returned to the Class B South final with a 46-32 victory over No. 4 Medomak Valley on Tuesday night at the Portland Expo.

The defending regional champions (20-0) will face No. 2 Lincoln Academy on Thursday. Medomak Valley, which lost to Oceanside for the third time this season, finished 16-4.

“Coach really preached all week that defense was the key to this game. The team that wanted to play defense was going to win,” said Cohen Galley, who added eight rebounds. “We got a great team win.”

The game seemed to take place in some alternate universe. The high-octane Mariners were held to eight points in the first quarter and 22 through the first half, and Carter Galley, the school’s all-time leading scorer and a Mr. Maine Basketball semifinalist, was stymied, held in check by great defense from Gabe Lash. Carter Galley finished with three points.

“We can’t score with them, so we just wanted to keep it down,” Medomak Valley Coach Nick DePatsy said. “You can’t run with them. You’ve got to get two guys back, you’ve got to be smart, you’ve got to limit their touches, limit their possessions. … And we did.”

Faced with a slower pace and a star who wasn’t scoring, Oceanside still fought through. Cohen Galley had nine of the team’s 22 points in the first half and 13 of the 30 points through three quarters, and the Mariners ramped up their defense, particularly on Kory Donlin, who was held to six points. DePatsy said the Panthers committed more than 25 turnovers.

A Lash jumper made it 33-20 with 6:50 to play, but consecutive baskets by Cohen Galley pushed the margin to 17 and allowed the Mariners to cruise to the finish.

“That’s not a game that we’re used to playing, in the 40s. We’re used to playing in the 70s and the 80s,” Reed said. “But I think we showed tonight we can play any style you want to play. We’re just going to focus on winning every possession that we can.”

One of the Oceanside players who stepped up was Ripley, a 6-6 freshman whose returned to the lineup from a rolled ankle suffered on Feb. 2 gave the Mariners a dose of size and toughness down low.

“Great job. Big moment, he wasn’t scared of it,” Reed said. “The kid’s 15 years old, he comes in and shows no fear, rebounds the ball, puts it back in, did everything right.”

Ripley said he was ready to make an immediate impact.

“I was thinking I had to step up,” he said. “I love playing in a game like this. … It was a big game, and we played really good defense.”

Zeb Foster added eight points for the Mariners. Carter Galley scored his first points on a free throw with 3:17 to play.

Reed said he expects Friday to be a different story.

“That doesn’t happen very often, so I would be ready for Carter to come out big-time on Friday,” he said. “He did everything the right way, they just didn’t fall for him tonight. But … if they don’t fall for him on one night, look out on the next.”

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