SACO – After back-to-back close losses before the Christmas break, Windham High’s girls’ basketball players knew they had to respond Friday at Thornton Academy.

And the Eagles came up with perhaps their most complete game of the season.

Windham’s defense stymied the Trojans. The Eagles hit their 3-point shots. As a result, Windham cruised to a 46-26 victory over the Trojans at Linnell Gymnasium.

After Thornton came back from an early deficit to tie the game at 12 early in the second quarter, the Eagles went on a 23-4 run that decided the game. Windham is now 4-2 while Thornton, losing its second in a row, dropped to 3-2.

“The girls knew how big this game was,” said Jessie Cummings, Windham’s coach. “They wanted to get back on the winning track It was crucial for us. Thornton Academy is going to gain a lot of Heal points the rest of the way.”

Eric Marston, the Trojans’ second-year coach, said Windham took his club out of its game.

“The most disappointing thing is that they outworked us,” he said. “There was a lack of effort at both ends of the court. Granted, we didn’t execute. But we pride ourselves on being a hard-working team. And it was evident from the score their effort was greater than ours.”

Windham concentrated on shutting down Thornton’s inside game, which is the heart of the Trojans’ offense. Inside defenders Lonnie Staten and Diandra Berthiaume got plenty of help from the guards — Meghan Gribbin, Bebe Butts and Stephanie Frost — dropping down to double-team the ball.

So effective was the Eagles’ defense that Thornton Academy’s leading scorer, Meghan Agger (about 17 points per game), was held scoreless for the first time in her four-year varsity career.

“Every time I caught the ball, two or three people were around me,” she said. “That made it very difficult. They’re very good defensively, very scrappy. They took me out of the game completely and I got frustrated.”

Offensively, the Eagles got a lot of contributions, especially from the perimeter. Windham hit eight 3-pointers, three each from Butts and Frost and two from Gribbin.

“Our 3-point shots were back,” said Frost, who had 11 points. “We hadn’t hit them in a while. So yesterday after practice the three of us took some extra time to work on them, being contested. And apparently it worked.”

Windham opened a 10-2 lead in the first before Thornton came back to tie it at 12. Butts came down and hit a 3-pointer from the right corner. Berthiaume then stripped the ball and went coast-to-coast for a lay-in. Frost followed with her first 3-pointer to make it 20-12.

Thornton’s Katie McCrum scored on a nice drive, but Frost followed with another 3, leading to a 23-14 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Gribbin — held to two points in the first half — scored 10 consecutive points to push the Eagles to a 33-16 lead midway through the third.

“We’ve had wins this season but this was the one,” said Frost. “This was the team to beat for us. We didn’t beat Scarborough, we didn’t beat Marshwood. They were both close but I think this was the first game where we actually worked together as a team. I was really impressed by our win today.”

Gribbin led Windham with 15 points. Olivia Shaw and Jordan Agger each had 10 for Thornton.

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

mlowe@pressherald.com

Twitter: MikeLowePPH