Underdog Eagle Boys Soar Past Mariners In OT Playoff Thriller LA 56 - Oceanside 53

The No. 10 seed Lincoln Academy boys basketball outlasted No. 7 Oceanside in overtime 56-53 in a Class B South preliminary round playoff game on Wednesday, Feb. 11 in Rockland.

LA’s comeback victory avenged a pair of losses to Oceanside earlier this season, 57-44 on Dec. 16, 2025 in Rockland and 61 55 in the Eagles’ nest on Jan. 9.

The end of the game had fans on the edge of their seats. Lincoln Academy led 46-44 with 26 seconds left before Oceanside’s Connor Kingsbury lofted a high hook shot over the leaping block of a Eagle defender to knot the score 46-46. The Eagles got the ball up the court and stalled to take the final shot in regulation, but an attempt by senior Chase Ober inside the paint bounced harmlessly off the backboard as the buzzer sounded and the teams had to settle the game in overtime.

Defense was the key to the Eagles’ win, highlighted by the hard work of Ober, who pulled down 11 rebounds and blocked a shot.

“We made adjustments on defense to eliminate their three point shots,” coach Ryan Ball said.

The defensive strategy worked, as the Eagles held the Mariners to a trio of 3-pointers in the game. The perimeter defense, led by guards Aidyn Herring and James Hanley, forced Oceanside to move the ball inside the paint, where Ober, with help of fellow big players Michael Mitchell and Koleman Chesebro, held them in check.

Ober was the top scorer in the game with 21 points. He nailed five 3-pointers in the contest, including a clutch three with less than two minutes remaining in overtime to boost the Eagles back into the lead.

Lincoln led 12-11 after a physical first quarter that was fraught with sloppy turnovers by both teams. The young Eagles righted the ship and went on a dynamic 10-2 run early in the second quarter, taking advantage of steals and transition up the court to boost their lead to 22-13. Herring had two layups on those fast breaks and Chesebro and Hanley one apiece.

Lincoln held a 26-18 advantage with two minutes left in the half before Oceanside rallied to narrow the margin to one point at the half. Speedy Mariner guard Alonzo Hoose pulled down a rebound with a few seconds remaining and was fouled as he buried a shot while falling hard to the floor. To the delight of the home crowd, Hoose sank the foul shot to finish off a three-point play that narrowed the LA lead to 26-25 heading into the break.

The Mariners built off of that momentum and came out flying in the third quarter, scoring five straight points on a layup and 3 pointer by Kingsbury.

Lincoln responded with Ober sinking a long 3-pointer. After a Mariner turnover, Mitchell was fouled as he scored in the paint. He made the foul shot to tie it 32-32. Oceanside drained a basket before LA’s Deklan DiMauro drove to the hoop along the baseline and barely stayed inbounds as he banked in a reverse layup in front of the LA cheering section to knot the score 34-34.

Oceanside pulled away again, and Kingsbury capped a 10-2 run when he buried a buzzer-beater that boosted the home squad to a 44-36 lead after three quarters.

Oceanside got the ball to start the final quarter and confidently used a stall offense in hopes of running down the clock to prevent the Eagles from a rally. Neither team scored for the first couple of minutes before Oceanside’s stall plan unraveled.

The Eagles stole the ball, and Ober barreled his way through traffic and made a highlight reel shot on a reverse layup. After another Eagle steal, Herring buried a long 3-pointer to whittle the Oceanside lead to 44-43 with four minutes left.

The Eagles played tough defense while holding the Mariners to two points in the fourth quarter.

“We tried to prevent their top shooters from catching the ball, and if they did, we wanted to force them to put the ball on the floor,” Ball said.

LA stole the ball again, and Ober nailed another 3-pointer to thrust the Eagles into a 46-44 lead. The Eagles excitement was short lived as Herring, who had been playing stifling perimeter defense and controlling the 3-point sharp shooter Hoose, fouled out with 3:27 left in regulation.

For three minutes the scoreboard did not move as both teams played tough defense and the offenses turned the ball over and missed shots. Oceanside scored their only points of the fourth quarter when Kingsbury sank an old-school hook shot to tie it 46-46. The Mariners held off the Eagles to send the game to overtime.

Lincoln took an early lead in OT when Mitchell made a shot in the paint and was fouled. He sank the free throw to put LA up 49-46. Kingsbury hit his second and final 3-pointer of the game to tie the score 49-49 with 2:13 remaining in the extra session.

Sophomore guard Brody Day, who subbed in when Herring fouled out, sank one of two free throws to make it 50-49 LA. Oceanside responded on their next possession with a basket to reclaim a 51-50 lead with two minutes left. Ober nailed a clutch 3-pointer to swing it to 53-51 in favor of Lincoln with 1:11 remaining. Nine seconds later Kingsbury was fouled, and he made both free throws to score Oceanside’s final points of the game to tie it 53-53.

The Eagles brought the ball up the court and DiMauro drove hard to the hoop and was fouled hard enough that a shoe came off. He missed both free throws with 47 seconds left.

Oceanside’s hope to hang on for the last possession was foiled when James Hanley leapt to steal the ball at midcourt. As he landed he pitched it to Day, who darted to the basket for an easy layup that gave Lincoln a 55-53 lead with 19.7 seconds on the clock.

Oceanside inbounded the ball and got it into their offensive end for a final shot with three seconds remaining, but the ball missed the basket entirely and the air ball was caught by Mitchell who was immediately fouled. Mitchell made one of two free throws, and Oceanside rebounded the miss and called timeout with one second left. The Mariners’ last-second pass up the court was picked off by Hanley who threw the ball toward the ceiling and the Eagles rushed onto the court to celebrate an upset victory.

Scoring for LA were Ober 21 (11R, 4A, 1S, 1B), Herring 9 (5R, 1A, 2S), DiMauro (3R) and Mitchell (4R, 1A, 1S, 1B) 6 apiece, Chesebro (2R) and Hanley (8R, 6A, 1S) 4 each, and Day (1A, 1S) and Blakesley (6R, 2A) 3 apiece. Malachi Farrin chipped in with two assists and a steal.

Reid Robishaw had 15 to lead Oceanside. Also scoring for the Mariners were Kingsbury 13, Nathan Walton 10, Hoose 9, Leland Galley 4, and Grady Geretz 2.

The Eagles (6-13) advanced to face No. 2 seed Medomak Valley (15-3) in a quarterfinal game on Monday, Feb. 16 at the Portland Expo in Portland (see related article).

 

Here are some more photos from the game:

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