BIDDEFORD ”“ No playoff berth was on the line, what with both Thornton Academy and Biddeford having already grabbed spots in the upcoming Western Class A basketball tournament.
Even so, there was plenty to play for when the two rivals clashed in the regular season finale, won by Thornton, 59-45, at Steve White Gym, Friday.
For starters, any encounter between the ancient rivals is bound to ramp up the emotional level.
And for another, both teams wanted to head into the playoffs with a full head of steam.
Safe to say that Thornton (13-5) got what it came for.
“That’s what we had talked about,” said forward Eric Christensen (10 points). “Going into the playoffs on a high note. So we came out and played intense.”
Feeding off the energy generated by the near-capacity crowd, both teams came out firing on all cylinders.
The Tigers (9-9) twice held two point leads in the opening quarter, the last one coming when Cameron Nadeau cashed in a feed from Nicholas LeBlond to make it 12-10 with 1:10 remaining.
“It was definitely a fun ‘Senior Night’,” said senior co-captain Bobby Cote, who led all scorers with 18 points. “I think everyone was excited. The crowd got into it. And we started off pretty good.”
The Trojans finished the quarter with baskets by Quinn Richardson-Newton and Christensen to take a 14-12 advantage.
“I think we came out a little slow right in the beginning,” said Justin Pollard (team high 15 points). “But then we just got it going. We scored some baskets and just started playing well together. We all decided to click.”
The Trojans, who will be the No. 5 seed, did so in resounding fashion, putting together a massive 15-4 run that staked them to a 31-19 halftime lead.
Pollard hit for nine points in that quarter, while Christensen added eight.
Almost all of them were scored from close range, as Thornton was able to penetrate to the basket at will.
“We just got killed on the boards,” said Biddeford coach Mike Fecteau, noting Thornton’s 45-25 lopsided rebound advantage. “You’re not going to win games getting out-rebounded like that. They’re not a good match up for us, size-wise.”
Thornton kept the pressure on throughout the third quarter, then opened its largest lead of the night, 51-27, when Jeff Gelinas (12 points) hit a pair of free throws in the opening moments of the fourth.
The Tigers, who will seeded ninth, made matters interesting down the stretch, when they connected on four 3 pointers, two of them by Patrick Wilson.
But the result had long before been settled, and both teams were ready to shift their sights to playoffs.
“We made the tournament,” said Cote. “Hopefully we can get hot again like we were. We’re just looking forward to (that). But this one behind us.”
Thornton coach Bob Davies expressed the same sentiment.
“The last game of the year,” he said, “you don’t want to do anything to lose confidence. And we didn’t. We maintained our focus through four quarters and took care of business.”
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