BIDDEFORD — No James Ek? No problem.

So went the Thornton Academy boys basketball team on Monday night in its 66-43 win over Biddeford at Tiger Gym.

Even without guard James Ek, one of Thornton’s leading scorers [15 points per game in 14 games this season] who will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, the Golden Trojans continued to produce offensively, including outscoring the Tigers 24-17 in the fourth quarter, to pull out the win.

Thornton is now 13-3 on the season, and as of Monday night, resided in third place in Western Class A.

On the flip side, Biddeford (6-10) is knocked out of playoff contention. After starting the season at 1-6, the Tigers turned things around, pulling off five wins in a seven-game stretch. But a loss to Portland on Feb. 6 forced Biddeford to have to beat its archrival twice in one week to have a chance at the playoffs.

With the loss of Ek, several Trojan players stepped up offensively, including leading scorer Andrew Shaw, who scored a game-high 18 points.

Shaw said he wasn’t shocked by the normal offensive output put forth by the Trojans.

“I think it was just different in the way we did it,” Shaw said. “We got a lot of fast-break points. We ran the floor really well, and I think we outhustled a team for the first time this season. It was a good win and we had a lot of guys contribute.”

Shaw wasn’t the only Thornton player to score. Trojan guard Justin Pollard was a rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 13 points while grabbing nine boards.

Pollard, a junior, has made a name for himself this season as a third scorer for the Trojans behind Shaw and James Ek.

“I just come to play every game,” Pollard said. “Got to rebound, got to play as a team, and just get it done.”

Josh Woodward also chipped in with nine points, and Adam Ek, James’ younger brother, led the offense from the point guard position, dishing off several assists throughout the night.

“Adam’s doing well, Pollard had a lot of fast-break points. Everybody is playing great defense,” Shaw said. “I think we held them to [43] points, so that’s a good defensive effort, and we got our average on offense, so it’s a good win.”

Both teams kept the score close in the first quarter. Thanks to a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Tigers guard Mike Lachance, Biddeford trailed Thornton 14-13 at the end of the first quarter. An 11-0 run at the start of second quarter helped Thornton lengthen the lead, and was punctuated on the last shot of the half, a half-court heave by Pollard that swished the net, giving Thornton a 33-20 lead at halftime.

“We shoot [half-court shots] before practice, but I don’t practice that,” Pollard said. “It went in.”

Both teams struggled offensively in the third quarter, scoring a combined 13 points in the period (seven for Thornton, six for Biddeford), but that all changed in the fourth quarter, which included 6-0 and 7-0 runs, plus a fast-break, two-handed dunk by Shaw that took the life out of the Biddeford faithful sitting in the stands.

Biddeford had bright spots. Tigers guard Robert Cote scored 17 points, including four 3-pointers, while guard Chance Baldino scored nine points and forward Nate McKeown chipped in with eight points. But shooting woes hurt the Tigers, and Biddeford struggled to break the Trojans’ zone defense in the low post offensively.

Both teams will meet again on Friday, in the regular season finale at Linnell Gym in Saco. Thornton hits the road today for a 7 p.m. game with Scarborough, while Biddeford will host Kennebunk today at 7 p.m. at Tiger Gym.

“We always have things we’ve got to work on,” Shaw said. “But we’ve got to just keep on playing great defense and rebounding. If we can keep playing like we did tonight, we’ll be well on our way, and maybe we can even nip Cheverus.”

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 318.