PORTLAND — With a 3-pointer to open the scoring in Saturday’s Class B South quarterfinal against Lincoln Academy, Oak Hill’s Evan Boston showed he had come to play even before the Raiders’ leading scorer, senior center Marcus Bailey, started to be limited by foul trouble.
The speedy senior guard shifted into overdrive as soon as Bailey went to the bench with his second foul just 1:53 into the game, propelling the fourth-seeded Raiders to a 17-3 first quarter lead that the fifth-seeded Eagles, feisty as they were, could never overcome.
Boston scored a game-high 28 points to lead Oak Hill to a 59-46 win at the Portland Expo.
The Raiders (11-8) advanced to face No. 1 Yarmouth in the semifinals at 7:30 next Thursday at the Cross Insurance Arena. Lincoln Academy ended its season at 6-13.
“We lost (Bailey) and that’s our big guy. I think we need to pull together and play as a team,” Boston said. “We noticed that he was down (and) he got taken out of the game. We need to handle adversity… Luckily, I was just hitting some shots and whatnot every so often, but my teammates helped me get open… One guy can’t beat five.”
“He stepped up real big for us,” Oak Hill coach Tom Smith said of Boston. “It was the moment that he wanted and he took advantage of it.”
Austin Noble added eight points and seven rebounds and Darryn Bailey seven points and nine boards for the Raiders, who never trailed or were tied. Keyden Leeman led the Eagles with 21 points and Cody Tozier added 17 points.
It was a game of runs, and Oak Hill had the first and last say.
Boston scored nine points in the first quarter, including six in a row as part of an 11-0 Oak Hill run to end the period. Lincoln missed all eight shots it took, and after Noble’s 3-pointer with 1:20 left, the Eagles found themselves down, 17-3.
“Everybody was just clicking,” Smith said. “They were real loose. I thought they all might be a little tight, but they came out.”
Tozier finally got the Eagles first field goal with a 3-pointer 10 seconds into the second quarter. The Raiders increased their lead to 15 before Lincoln went on a 16-5 run to pull within 26-22 at halftime.
“The second quarter, we didn’t play well at all,” Smith said. “We let them get back in it and I told the guys in the locker room at halftime just handle the adversity. They’re going to make runs and we need to continue to make runs.”
“Just don’t let it get in your head,” Boston said of the Raiders’ halftime mindset. “Things are going to happen. It’s a big crowd, different place. It’s the Red Claws’ court. It’s pretty impressive. So we have to hold our own, play our game and be unselfish.”
A Leeman layup to start the second half made it a two-point game. But Boston and Cohen Donnell drilled back-to-back treys as Oak Hill quickly got the lead back to 10 with 5:37 left in the third.
Bailey (five points, three rebounds in just 12 minutes played) drew his fourth foul with five minutes to go in the period. Lincoln Academy took advantage by going inside to Leeman and Tozier to end the quarter with an 11-2 run to make it 36-35 at the end of the third.
But the Eagles stayed away from the paint after that, and that ultimately cost them in the fourth quarter.
Oak Hill pulled away for the final time with an 11-1 run early in the fourth, which Boston started with a three-point play. Darryn Bailey followed with a putback on a missed free throw.
The Raiders made six of their nine shots in the final stanza, while the Eagles made just four of 18.
“I never felt like we got any offensive rhythm at all,” said Eagles coach Ryan Ball, whose team shot 31 percent from the floor for the game. “They played a 1-3-1 and we just couldn’t get comfortable. And we had worked on it quite a bit, although it didn’t look it.”
“It worked pretty well,” Boston said of Oak Hill’s zone. “They don’t like to go inside that much, I noticed. They like to shoot from the outside. Forcing them to shoot from the outside really helped us out a lot.”
Oak Hill’s Darryn Bailey drives the lane between Lincoln Academy’s Brett McLain and Keyden Leeman at Saturday’s game at the Portland Expo.
Oak Hill’s Austin Noble loses the ball as he goes up for a layup defended by Lincoln Academy’s Joel Hatch and Jon Pinkham at Saturday’s game at the Portland Expo.
Oak Hill’s Evan Boston goes in for an easy layup during the second half at Saturday’s game at the Portland Expo.
Oak Hill’s Marcus Bailey tries to get around Lincoln Academy’s Keyden Leeman and Jon Pinkham at Saturday’s game at the Portland Expo.
Oak Hill’s Evan Boston goes up for a layup defended by Lincoln Academy’s Keyden Leeman at Saturday’s game at the Portland Expo.
Oak Hill’s Austin Noble tries to get around Lincoln Academy’s Riley Cushing at Saturday’s game at the Portland Expo.
Oak Hill’s Evan Boston calls the play at Saturday’s game at the Portland Expo.
Oak Hill fans try to help with a foul shot during the second half at Saturday’s game at the Portland Expo.
Oak Hill’s Darryn Bailey goes up for a layup defended by Lincoln Academy’s Nathan Masters and Joel Hatch at Saturday’s game at the Portland Expo.
Oak Hill head coach Tom Smith talks to he’s players during a timeout in the second half at Saturday’s game at the Portland Expo.
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