HAMPDEN — The Oceanside unified basketball team claimed its first victory of the season Feb. 24 in a road contest against Hampden Academy. 

The first quarter ended with Hampden Academy up 9-8 and at the end of the half, the two schools were knotted at 18. Heading into the final period, Hampden Academy had a 29-26 advantage. 

At the end of the game, the Mariners picked up a 34-33 victory. 

“It was a very exciting game with both teams playing very good basketball,” said head coach Joanna Hall. “I am very pleased with our team effort today and our continued improvement.  We are really looking forward to our next game on Monday when we host Messalonskee.”

Oceanside now sports a 1-2 record, after falling to Cony 54-25 and Winthrop 43-42 earlier in the season. Hampden Academy falls to 1-1 with the loss as its only other contest resulted in a 40-12 victory over Waterville earlier this month. 

The Mariners will host Messalonskee Monday, Mar. 2 at 3:30 p.m. and travel to Waterville Thursday, Mar. 5 at 4:30 p.m. 

Players for the Mariners include Ryan Allender, Sydney Brooks, Jordan Carpenter, Ryan Crockett, Thomas Curtis, Eddie Davis, Kaylee Heino, Isaiah Jones, Cheyenne Montgomery, Jacob Morris, Nate Philbrook, Adrieanna Stowe, Jacquelyn Thorbjornson, Lily Vachon, Tyler Ward and Dakota Wildes. 

Scoring for the Mariners in the recent contest were Davis (10 points), Jones and Stowe (six each), Philbrook and Heino (four each) and Ward and Curtis (two each). 

Spirit squad members for the Mariners were Emma Arnt, Britten Rytky and Carolina Duda. 

Scoring for Hampden Academy were Isaiah Palmer (21 points), Zachary Ewing (six) and Isaac Miller, Robbie Martin and Michael Austin (two each). 

Other members of the Hampden Academy team are Cullen Wilson, David Manzo, Dakota Clement, Stephanie Walker, Drew Kelso, Alex Ross and William Houston. 

According to a press release by the Maine Principal’s Association, “Unified Basketball partners students with developmental disabilities (Unified Student Athlete) with students without developmental disabilities (Unified Student Partners) to train, compete, and represent their school. Unified Sports impacts all kinds of students and helps promote physical activity, teamwork, sportsmanship, and social inclusion.”

MORE INFORMATION ON UNIFIED BASKETBALL PER THE MPA

During games, a team must have at least three Unified Student Athletes and two Unified Student Partners on the floor at all times. Each school will be allowed 22 individuals on their roster and no more than 15 of them may be players in uniform. Each team may have up to five adult coaches & two Unified Student Assistants.

A regulation game will consist of four quarters of eight minutes running time. In the event of a tie at the end of regulation, a four minute running overtime will be played until a winner is decided. This procedure will be repeated if neccessary.

Each team will play with a women’s regulation ball (28.5) and will be given six timeouts for the game. If an overtime period is needed, each team will be granted one additional timeout per overtime period.

Unified Student Partners are not allowed to score more than 25% of a team’s total points. A forfeit will be given to a team that does not adhere to the “75% rule”.

This story was originally published Feb. 24 at 4:15 p.m. 

Reach the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com.