SACO — Four seconds. A six-point lead.

In no way could the Biddeford boys basketball team come back from a six-point deficit to beat its archrival, Thornton Academy, in that span of time.

Even members of the Biddeford student section were heading out the door, thinking the game was over. No chance in Hades.

Right?

Tell that to Patrick Wilson and Robert Cote.

The duo knocked down a pair of 3-pointers – Wilson with four seconds left, and Cote at the buzzer – to tie the game 52-52 and send the contest into overtime.

Even with the outstanding effort, which included two overtime periods, the Trojans escaped Senior Night at Linnell Gym with a 72-70 win on Thursday night.

“That’s why they call it Battle of the Bridge,” Thornton forward Andrew Shaw said. “Anything can happen.”

Though it was Senior Night for Thornton, it was the last game ever for nine Tigers players, and they didn’t let their final game go to waste. The Tigers entered the fourth quarter trailing 37-28, before outscoring Thornton 24-15 in the fourth to tie the game. Biddeford, who normally excels in 3-point shooting, struggled until the final minute of the fourth, when Wilson and Cote knocked the back-to-back shots.

All Thornton had to do was hold the ball for 1.3 seconds to win the game. But an off-target inbounds pass that went out of bounds gave the Tigers one more chance.

A pass was made to Cote, who, with a hand in his face, buried the 3-pointer from the corner to tie the game, almost bringing both the Biddeford and Thornton student sections storming onto the court.

“I couldn’t believe there was 1.3 seconds,” Cote said. “It was the perfect situation, they threw it out of bounds. I think we ran that play three or four times in the game. I just came off a couple screens. Shaw was in the corner, so I had to fade away out of bounds, throw it up, and it went in, I guess.”

The Tigers made seven more 3-pointers in overtime.

But Thornton was not to be denied. With the play of Shaw – who was nominated as a McDonald’s High School All-American before the game – scoring a game-high 26 points, and with the scrappy play of guard Corbett Smith, who scored 19 points, the Golden Trojans were able to withstand the offensive onslaught of Biddeford to hang on for the victory.

“Biddeford’s a pretty good team, I think they wanted to get back at us,” Smith said. “We went into their senior night and we won there, so they came here and tried to crash our senior night. But we came away with the ‘W’.

The game was a far cry from the first encounter between both teams on Monday, when the Trojans pounded Biddeford 66-43 at Tiger Gym.

“The first game, we struggled shooting, but we struggled shooting in the first half,” Cote said. “Plus, in the first TA game, we just came off an overtime game with Portland, so that took a lot out of us. Today, in the second half, the ball went our way, but not enough to get a win.”

Thornton took a 13-11 lead in the first quarter, and were able to hold onto a 25-21 lead at halftime. Shaw scored eight points in the third to help lengthen Thornton’s lead to nine by the end of the third quarter, before the Tigers made its comeback.

Biddeford head coach Mike Fecteau knew there was no way he could take his starting five out of the game.

“Those kids were exhausted, but I told them ‘You’re not coming out. I’m going with you guys right here’” Fecteau said. “They played with confidence. We had the game. I think a couple calls here or there would have helped us, but that goes both ways. The referees called it both ways, and you’ve got to play that way. I told them to keep their heads up. They saw that they can play, and they wish we could have done that at the beginning of the year.”

The Tigers almost took the win in the first overtime, as Cote – who led the Tigers with 24 points – sank a 3-pointer from the corner to give Biddeford a 60-58 lead. A layup by Thornton forward Josh Woodward tied and kept the game alive into a second overtime.

Both Woodward (who scored 14 points) and Shaw helped seal the contest in the second overtime. Shaw hit two free throws to give Thornton a 72-67 lead with eight seconds remaining.

Shaw also hit a key 3-pointer to kick off the second overtime, giving Thornton the lead.

“I was cold from the 3-point line all night long,” Shaw said. “That was a big one. You’ve just got to hit big shots.”

Biddeford guard Chance Baldino then nailed a 3-pointer to bring the score to 72-70 with one second left in the contest, and called a timeout.

Biddeford was unable to steal the ball on the inbound, giving Thornton the win.

Baldino finished the final game of his career with 21 points.

Thornton finishes the regular season with a 15-3 record, and as of Thursday night, had the #2 seed in Western Class A. A Bonny Eagle loss to Windham on Friday would ensure the seed for Thornton, but a win by the Scots would move the Trojans to the #3 seed for the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Tigers enter an off-season of could have’s and what if’s. The Tigers lost its chance for the playoffs with its loss to Thornton on Monday.

But, for at least one night, the Tigers were the team it was meant to be all season, as scrappy and tough as any team in Western Class A.

“Coming here, losing by what we did the other night, Andrew Shaw getting an award, everybody’s pumped up here,” Fecteau said. “We got behind a little, but these kids dug in and showed what Tiger pride is all about.”

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 318