SACO — The shooting might have been cold, but the competitive fires all but scorched the walls of old Linnell Gym.
As it happened, Thornton Academy snipers got hot at just the right moment, as the Golden Trojans rode a fourth-quarter rally to a rousing 37-34 triumph in an SMAA girls basketball tilt against cross-river rival Biddeford, Monday.
Meghan Agger (game high 16 points) and Hannah Ebling (9 points) lit the wick on a 13-3 Thornton finishing kick over the final four minutes, one that enabled the Trojans (5-9) to erase a seven-point deficit.
“I think our movement with the ball was key,” said Agger, who netted half of her points during that crucial stretch. “We swung the ball way more. We stopped driving to the basket because our shots weren’t falling. So we took our time and (started) hitting our shots. Our teamwork was incredible.”
Said Biddeford (4-10) coach Brian Heal, “They turned on that full court pressure. That really bothered us.”
The hoopspeak aside, Agger said that anything could and usually does happen when the two ancient cross-river foes hook up.
“I think (it’s) the whole Biddeford/TA rivalry,” she said. “Having the crowd behind us pumps us up. I just think that our rivalry really helped us.”
While the fourth quarter may have resembled a sprint, the first three were decidedly a grind out.
Biddeford trailed 8-6 after the first frame, then held the Trojans to just two second quarter points as they pulled out to an 18-10 haltime lead.
“Runs were a relative (term) in the course of a game like this,” Heal said.
The Tigers took their largest lead, 21-10, early in the third quarter, after a pair of freethrows by Keila Grigware (team high 14 points), and one by Bryanna Michaud.
However, by the end of the quarter, the Trojans had whittled the deficit down to two points, 24-22, then got a left wing jumper from Tori Lands to knot the score as the final period unfolded.
“The girls played extremely hard,” said Thornton coach Eric Marston. “It was a game of runs. It was typical Biddeford/Thornton. Very hard fought battles. Their zone gave us some trouble, and we adjusted to it.”
Indeed. But not right away.
The Tigers launched out to a 31-24 lead after Grigware hit a pair of foul shots with 4:10 left.
For a Thornton team that earlier went 14 full minutes having scored just two points, a seven-point deficit might have been too deep of which to pull out.
It wasn’t.
Ebling put Thornton on the comeback trail with a 3-pointer that made it 31-27.
“For us, shooting is contageous,” said Agger. “When someone makes a shot, we all get more confident. Her shooting that three told us, ‘we can do this. We have this game, now.’”
Agger picked it up from there, erupting for all eight of her fourth quarter points, including a 3-pointer that helped keep the Tigers at arms length.
Biddeford did get within 35-34 via a last minute bucket from Kim Fortier.
However, Ebling capped the scoring with a pair of free throws, giving the Trojans just enough breathing room.
— Contact Dan Hickling at 282-1535, ext. 317.
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