SACO – As Bonny Eagle High was stumbling to the finish of the Western Class A regular season, losing five consecutive games, it had some particular problems at the foul line.

Whatever the Scots did between their game Friday and Tuesday night’s Western Class A preliminary-round game at Thornton Academy worked.

The ninth-ranked Scots hit 17 of 20 foul shots in the final quarter to hold off the eighth-ranked Trojans, 50-42.

Sarah Assante converted 10 of 12 foul shots in the final quarter. The Scots missed just 7 of 33 in the game.

“This means a lot to this program,” said Bonny Eagle Coach Sue Rondeau. “We’ve worked hard to build it up and get a tradition started. To make the playoffs was huge, to get to the Expo is what we wanted.”

Bonny Eagle (8-11) will play top-ranked Deering (17-1) in the quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Portland Expo.

Assante finished with 20 points, her seven in the third sparking the Scots’ comeback, and also made two great assists in the fourth.

“She wanted this game,” said Rondeau. “We’ve been waiting all season for her to kind of step up and lead us. I guess if you had to wait, this was the game to get it done.”

The Scots, who beat the Trojans (8-11) by a point in the regular season, trailed 10-2 in the first quarter. But a switch to a zone defense in the second slowed Thornton as Bonny Eagle’s offense regrouped.

The Scots took off in the third quarter. The Trojans led 22-14 at the half but scored only six points in the third. Assante hit a 3-pointer and a short jumper to pull the Scots within 26-24, then Jordan Ray converted a three-point play with 2:28 left to give Bonny Eagle its first lead, 27-26.

The Trojans came back to take a 32-31 lead on two foul shots by Olivia Shaw with 6:42 left in the game. But Bonny Eagle then went on a 9-2 run.

Jessica MacDonald started it by hitting four foul shots in a row. After Ray hit a short jumper, Assante hit 3 of 4 free throws and it was 40-34.

The Trojans were forced to foul and the Scots didn’t miss, hitting seven in a row to lead 47-40 with 43.7 seconds left.

“I put my mind blank and think it’s just like practice,” said Assante. “And if I miss, work hard on defense to get it back and score.”

Last practice, she said, the Scots took “50 foul shots. We just kept together and did it.”

Jessica MacDonald, who had eight points, said it seemed more like “we took a million in practice. We totally pulled it out.”

The Trojans struggled at the foul line, hitting 9 of 20. They also missed several layups early and committed 21 turnovers.

“We didn’t execute our offense,” said Eric Marston, the first-year coach. “We turned it over far too many times, we missed far too many layups and didn’t convert our free throws. It was some poor coaching at times all those things add up and then you’ve got a loss.”

Thornton was led by Hannah Ebling with 13 points and Meghan Agger with 11.

The Scots, meanwhile, are moving on in their first playoff appearance in five years.

“There’s an incredible amount of heart on this team,” said MacDonald. “Everyone gives 100 percent all the time. It’s not just one person. It’s all 15 of us, 100 percent of the time. We never give up.

“To go to the Expo is just incredible. It shows how far we’ve come.”

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at:

mlowe@pressherald.com