Cole, Malloy, Dubay, Alexander and Woods, the Scots’ starting lineup, has enough talent and fury to contend with any opponent, and Friday night they more than contended with the Trojans; they routed them. Four of the five drained double-digits, Cole – as is often the case – leading the assault, with 22. By game’s end, Bonny Eagle stood on top 88-52.

The Scots improve to 14-1 on the season; they’re ranked second in A West behind Portland, 14-0. The Bulldogs are the only team thus far to defeat Bonny Eagle, by a nine-point margin back on Jan. 14.

The Trojans, now 7-6 on the year, linger a few spots back at fifth in the standings.

“We have really quick, athletic guys,” Bonny Eagle head coach Phil Bourassa said. “But we’re not bigger than anybody. They know they have to be crafty, they have to be active, they have to always be on balance, ready to react. We work on it: when we get our shots off, they’ve gotta rebound before the ball hits the ground.”

The teams’ previous meeting, on Jan. 4, finished much closer. Bonny Eagle took that battle in the end, but errors riddled their game and Bourassa afterward confessed himself dissatisfied. Friday’s play was cleaner and more consistent.

“We worked the ball around a lot more,” Bourassa said of the teams’ second matchup, “we played a little bit more unselfishly, we didn’t commit stupid fouls, like the last game. We played better as a team and shot better.”

“Last time we played [TA], it was a close game,” Cole acknowledged. “We had to come out and be ready tonight.”

The Scots charged onto the court fired up – perhaps because, just prior to tip-off, an already-sweaty Cole stood before the packed bleachers to receive his umpteenth award, this one supersized, nationally scaled: he’s been nominated for the McDonald’s All-American team, a bit of recognition visited upon just 1,000 players across the country.

Twenty-four nominees will be selected, and the All-American Game will be played on April 2 at the United Center in Chicago. Only three players from Maine received the nod, including Cole. Isaiah Bess, who attends Hampden, and Aaron Calixte, who plays for Lee, are Cole’s fellow honorees.

Whatever the origin of Bonny Eagle’s fervor, it catapulted them to a substantial lead in the opening minutes. Thornton’s Quinn Richardson-Newton put his team on the board first with a quick two, but it was the only advantage the Trojans would have the entire game.

Momentarily, Cole dished to Woods and Woods evened the tally; from there, the Scots rained buckets on the Trojans for the ensuing 30-plus minutes. Cole assisted again on the lead-taker, shoveling the ball way over to Alexander, who drained it for three. 5-2, and no looking back.

Led by constant threat Richardson-Newton, who had a big evening himself with 17, Thornton did what they could to keep pace with the Scots. Eleven of 12 Trojans contributed points to their total, including Reuben Moses with six and Demel Ruff and Corey Hart with five a piece.

But it was Bonny Eagle’s night. They stole balls, snatched offensive and defensive rebounds, and nimbly worked the ball back-and-forth to one another. At the halftime buzzer – when Dubay squeezed in a final two before the break – the Scots had scored two points for every one of the Trojans’, 46-23.

“We’ve really been hounding the guys,” Bourassa said, “about active hands and pressuring the ball and denying the next pass…and it showed a little bit tonight.”

“We kept our composure,” Cole said simply, “and were knocking down shots.”

Thornton upped their intensity in the third and fourth quarters, increasing their offensive output by roughly 25 percent. Moses and Ruff drained threes, and Hart and Kevin Barrett both accrued their total contributions, but none of it was nearly enough to dent the Scots’ lead or even slow them down very much.

In addition to Cole’s 22 (on five twos, two threes and six-for-six at the line), Malloy hashed 18 (on a lone two, five threes, and one-for-two at the line), Alexander had 13 and Dubay 11.

Bonny Eagle rests for a week, then hosts Westbrook. That game is scheduled for Friday the 31st at 7 p.m. Thornton travels to Westbrook on Tuesday the 28th for their own 7 p.m. showdown with the Blazes.

“We’ve still got a lot of improvement to do, a lot of progress,” Cole said. “We always come out slow-starting in the second half. Tonight we kept it up.”

Bourassa likes the way his boys are playing at present, but “there’s still plenty of room for improvement defensively. We made some mistakes early in the first half, but when they’re shooting this well, it’s very fun to watch.”

Thornton’s Quinn Richardson-Newton lines up a free-throw at Bonny Eagle Friday night. Richardson-Newton led the Trojans’ offense with 17.Bonny Eagle assembled a handy victory over Thornton Academy Friday night, 88-52, leading nearly from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer.Dustin Cole takes the ball to the basket, off the backboard and into the net. Cole put up 22 in Bonny Eagle’s 36-point thrashing of TA.Nate Alexander drives upcourt for the Scots. Alexander added 13 on his team’s behalf.Ben Malloy knocks down one of his five threes for the Scots Friday night; Malloy had 18 in total.Trojan Reuben Moses leaps over Bonny Eagle defender Jon Woods Friday night. Moses hashed six for TA.Kevin Barrett lays in a difficult ball at Bonny Eagle Friday night. Barrett contributed four overall.Cole to Dubay, to Cole, to Dubay…and in.