WINTHROP — After swishing a 10-foot jumper early in the fourth quarter, Winthrop’s Nate Jewel turned to celebrate with both arms raised in the air. Oceanside’s Eddie Davis was the first to meet him and slap him five.

“Good sportsmanship is all you need out there in the game,” Davis said after leading his team to a 37-29 win over the Ramblers. “It’s not about just winning, it’s about having fun.”

As it has been throughout the unified basketball season, fun remained in the forefront when the Mariners (5-2) and Ramblers (4-2) met in the Eastern Class A semifinals Thursday. It being the playoffs though, competition could not help but take a more prominent role with a berth to the regional finals on the line.

Jewel’s shot came in the midst of a 10-0 Winthrop run that helped cut a 29-17 deficit down to just two points with less than 5:00 remaining in the game, but ultimately Davis and Mariners had enough left to hold off the Ramblers for the win.

Davis scored a game-high 17 points, while Jacob Morris had six and both Kaylee Heino and Lily Vachon finished with four.

Dillion Coston paced the Ramblers with 13 points off the bench, including all seven of Winthrop’s points in the second quarter. Jewel had three short jumpers for six points, Dakota Brooke added four and Ruth Ann Burke, Malcolm Lavallee and Sebastian Coston had one basket each.

Winthrop coach Joan Thompson lauded Brooke’s defensive performance in particular, as he was tasked with trying to slow up Davis despite a definitive size disadvantage.

“I couldn’t have asked for more. He played his heart out. He played until the end and he was playing against a boy who was at least a foot and a half taller than him,” Thompson said. “He figured out how to box out. I think he learned a lot in this game.”

According to Thompson, watching her players learn — whether it was skills, communication or teamwork — has been one of the best parts of this first season of unified basketball.

“We had study hall last Friday that lasted two hours. Everybody’s helping everybody and it was great to see that,” Thompson said. “It’s not just on the court, it’s happening in the classroom, it’s happening out in the community and that’s what the unified sports is all about.

“…I get goosebumps just thinking about the whole season. To pick out one particular moment, I don’t really think I could. There’s one moment in probably every game.”

For Winthrop senior Sebastian Coston, his favorite moment came in Tuesday’s 55-50 win over Messalonskee in watching Lavallee score a game-high 10 points against the Eagles.

“He didn’t want to shoot (and) he kept passing it back to us. He finally shot it and he loved it,” Coston said. “I love seeing (the) smile on (his) face.”

For Oceanside, the season will continue as the Mariners will face Hampden — which defeated Lewiston 37-36 in double overtime Thursday — for the Eastern A title Tuesday. The winner will play either Brunswick or Lisbon for the Gold Ball.

The season may be over for Winthrop, but Thompson said she cannot wait to get going next year given how things went for the Ramblers this winter.

“I’m excited for next year,” Thompson said. “All my players except for one promised me they’re coming back and then I’ve got a bunch of new kids that want to be a part of this. That’s the exciting part. I’ve had a whole bunch of kids come to me and say, ‘I want to do this next year.'”

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley

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