BIDDEFORD — It’s often said that free-throw shooting can win or lose games.

For the Thornton Academy boys on Monday afternoon, it truly was the charity stripe.

The Golden Trojans made 12 of 13 from the line in the crucial second quarter, and 23 of 29 overall to take a 62-46 victory over Biddeford in the first of the year’s two Battle of the Bridge contests. Free throws were also significant in the Trojans’ 64-52 win over Portland on Friday as they hit 18 to hand the Bulldogs their first loss, and were again the difference against the Tigers.

“They were getting on our shooters, and we realized we just had to get to the hoop and get to the foul line,” said Thornton guard Quinn Richardson-Newton. “It’s easy points.”

“We’ve been shooting the ball well from the line all year,” added coach Bob Davies. “We work on it a lot, and if we can get to the line we need to make.”

It was the sixth-straight victory for the surging Trojans (8-5), and their 13th-straight overall over the rival Tigers, a streak dating back to Feb. 3, 2005.

“We take this rivalry pretty seriously. We don’t like to lose to them,” said Richardson-Newton. “But really it’s just another game to us. Getting the victory is all that matters.”

Richardson-Newton was the key to the victory by scoring a game-high 21 points while Jeff Gelinas chipped in 15 and Reuben Moses nine. Kevin Barrett also added nine points off the bench playing extended minutes after starting center Malcolm Dopwell left with an ankle injury in the second minute of the game.

Sam Methot led the Tigers (4-9) with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Cam Nadeau had 11 points and hit three 3-pointers, but it was long distance that did in the Tigers as they made just seven of the 36 shots they took from beyond the arc, a percentage that didn’t equate to winning basketball, Biddeford coach Mike Fecteau said.

“We took 36 3-pointers, and for us, we need to get the ball to the basket,” he said. “We had some wide-open looks, but we weren’t patient, we were shooting off the first pass and they were getting long rebounds and pushing the ball up the other way.

“They were very patient waiting for a good opportunity to score and that was the difference.”

That patience began to make a difference at the start of the second quarter, when the Trojans went on a 13-3 run to take a 23-10 lead. Nine of those points came from free throws, and a Quinn-Richardson jumper with three seconds left gave Thornton a 32-19 lead heading into the break.

As opposed to the Trojans’ 29 attempts from the line, the Tigers generated only seven, including just four in the first half. The Tigers weren’t hitting from the field in the opening 16 minutes either, shooting 6 of 33.

His team’s inability to drive the ball and pound it inside, especially in the absence of the 6-foot-6 Dopwell, frustrated Fecteau, he said.

“I told them at halftime the difference was they were at the foul line and we’re not,” Fecteau said. “You’re playing with them but they’re going to the hoop and they’re getting fouled, they’re crashing the boards and we weren’t doing that.

“We’re not going to the hoop so we’re not getting to the foul line and we’ve got to score from the foul line and that’s not happening. Especially with (Dopwell) out, it takes away a big presence for them inside, but if these kids get a wide-open look, they’re going to shoot the ball and we just didn’t hit the shots.”

The Trojans continued to build the lead in the third, getting 17 points from five different scorers while holding the Tigers to 12 for the second-straight quarter to extend their advantage to 18 after three. Thornton then built the lead all the way to 25 in the fourth quarter before a late Tigers’ run brought the final margin down to 16.

It was the fourth-straight game the Trojans have held an opponent to 52 points or less, and Davies said he’s seen a marked improvement in his team’s performance on the defensive end since it allowed 81 points to Scarborough in its last loss on Jan. 4.

“We’re slowly getting better through the year and the kids are starting to figure it out on the defensive end,” Davies said. “We’ve still got to do a better job rebounding, but our team defense has been a lot better.”

“Defensively we’ve been doing a better job,” added Richardson-Newton, who Davies singled out for his leadership on the defensive end. “We’re actually competing now. Back when we played Scarborough, we weren’t competing that much, but now when the ball’s on the floor, we go get it.”

Thornton will look to make it seven in a row on Friday night and could do their rivals a big favor by beating Noble, who are currently battling with Biddeford and a slew of others for the last two playoff places. Fecteau said that even after the tough loss, it was important for his players to remember they’re still in the playoff hunt, and that their game with Marshwood (5-8) on Friday night was the start of a five-game season.

“We’re in 10th place, we’ve got five games left and this is your season here,” Fecteau said. “It starts on Friday and a very big game with us against Marshwood. We’re playing them at home and it’s an opportunity for us to get a big win. We win that game and it gives us a lift for the rest of the season.”

— Contact Cameron Dunbar at 282-1535, Ext. 323.