Oh so close, but not enough

SACO — With less than five minutes to play in regulation, it appeared the game between Thornton Academy and Westbrook was all but over, as the Blue Blazes held tight to a 51-41 lead.

The feeling was mutual amongst the fans in the Linnell Gym, as the Westbrook student section taunted the Thornton students from across the court, chanting “scoreboard” over and over again.

But after a timeout, Thornton Academy guard Keegan Sullivan hit a three-pointer.

Not long after, his teammate, Andrew Shaw, nailed a three-pointer. On the next possesion, he hit another.

Out of nowhere, with a minute to play, the Golden Trojans trailed, 53-50.

The energy in the crowd moved across the court, and the Thornton Academy students played role reversal, as they took their turn mocking the Westbrook students.

Unfortunately for the Trojan faithful, the comback could not be complete, as two free throws by Dominic Borelli sealed the win for Westbrook in the final minute, and the Blazes escaped with a 55-50 win.

Westbrook, the No. 3 team in the Maine Principal Association Heal Point standings, used three-point shooting to attack Thornton early in the first half.

Westbrook forward Nicholas Jobin was instrumental in the Blazes early lead, as he scored 12 points in the first quarter alone. His hot streak settled down in the second half, as he would score only seven points in the half, but Borelli stepped up to score most of his 17 points in the half to help seal the game for Westbrook.

However, the Trojans, ranked number four in Heal Points, answered back with the play of Shaw, who also had a hot hand behind the three-point line, to keep Thornton in the game. At halftime, Westbrook had a 37-27 lead.

The Blazes continued their hot shooting in the second half, but Shaw continued his shooting streak as well, and along with the low post play of forward Tom Littlefield, Thornton remained within 10 points of the Blazes until their comeback effort late in the fourth quarter.

Shaw had a game high 24 points with five rebounds, while Littlefield scored 10 points.

The loss ends a tough stretch of games for the Trojans, starting on Jan. 5 with an 80-46 loss to number one ranked Cheverus, the Trojans would also lose to second-ranked South Portland 58-48 on Jan. 9, but were able to pick up a 51-38 win over Scarborough on Jan. 7.

The Trojans have a 7-3 regular season record.

“We had a tough stretch,” Shaw said. “We had Cheverus first, obviously. We came in like a deer in the headlights. That was a big game and we didn’t respond well. We went to Scarborough and came back a little bit, got some chemistry together, we gave South Portland a fight and fell apart a little bit in the fourth quarter. Westbrook played well all game, we played with them to the end but just fell a little short.”

Though Thornton has lost three games in seven days, the margin of defeat has shortened substantially. Thornton Academy head coach Robert Davies said the team is improving as the season progresses.

“This is young team that’s getting better,” Davies said. “They’re starting to realize how to play together as a team, and move the ball and set screens. Defensively, they’re learning on the fly hot to help, how to rotate. The second half they played with a lot more energy. I’m proud of the way the kids played tonight.”

Davies said experience will also help the Trojans toward the end of the season.

“We’ve stil got a ways to go in the season, and this is a good ballclub,” Davies said. “I’m really happy with the way the defense is progressing and the offense is coming along. They haven’t played together for a whole year yet. So it’s coming along and we’re learning how to play with each other. It’s fun watching them grow.”

The Trojans have a favorable schedule for the rest of the season, as Windham is the only team remaining that has a winning record.

Shaw said he does not expect Thornton to become complacent in its final eight games.

“No, not at all,” Shaw said. “We’ve dropped three of our last four and we’ve got a fire in our belly and we want to win. We’re going to take everybody like it’s our last game and we’ll play hard and make a run for the playoffs.”