SANFORD — Thornton Academy kept its strong start to the season going on Friday night as the Trojans toppled a young Sanford team that is still trying to find its footing. Thornton jumped out to a 17-3 lead and kept the Sanford offense quiet all game in a 50-15 girls basketball victory at Veterans Memorial Gymnasium.

The Trojans (5-0), known for their defense, couldn’t miss early on. They hit their first three shots to take a 6-0 lead before Sanford’s Summer Camire hit a jumper to put the Spartans (0-5) on the board.

A 3-pointer by Ashley Howe marked Thornton’s fourth straight make to start the game before Victoria Lux’ turnaround jumper finally missed.

The Trojans made nine field goals in the opening quarter, led by three from Howe, to take a 17-3 lead. All Sanford could muster was the jumper and a made free throw by Camire.

“I was a little concerned since we haven’t practiced for a couple of days and I wasn’t sure how rusty we would be coming out of the gate,” Thornton head coach Eric Marston said of his team’s hot start. “I thought the girls responded pretty well initially.”

The game was scheduled to be held in Saco, but Thornton Academy students were held out of school after a threat was made to the school on Thursday. The game was moved to Sanford and turned into the opener of a girls-boys varsity doubleheader, as TA and Sanford were already scheduled to clash at Veterans Memorial Gym.

While the Spartans were the hosts, they didn’t look comfortable dealing with Thornton’s in-your-face defense, which held Sanford without a field goal for over 25 minutes from Camire’s first-quarter jumper to a Kristen O’Connell layup midway through the fourth.

“Their defense is just pressure. And if you’re not ready to meet the pressure, and attack and be aggressive, then it’s hard,” said Sanford head coach Kristy Parent. “It was tough to get any good looks to the basket and they limited us to one shot when we did.”

“That’s our foundation, we start everything on the defensive end,” said Marston. “I thought the girls did a great job of getting in passing lanes and putting ball pressure on the ball-handlers.”

The Trojans upped their lead to 25-8 at halftime, but things went south early in the third quarter as Lux went down to the floor after going up for a rebound. She laid on the court for a few minutes before being helped up off the floor; she didn’t return to the game.

Despite losing its senior captain, Thornton was undeterred, as the Trojans held Sanford scoreless in the quarter and extended their lead to 43-8.

“I was really proud with how the team responded,” said Marston.

Hayden Campbell scored six points in the period, and Katie McCrum added five as the Trojans had their best scoring quarter with 18 in the third.

Sanford had its best quarter points-wise in the fourth as reserves came off the bench to score the final seven points for the Spartans.

“They competed; they did the best that they can,” Parent said of her team. “We’re very young, inexperienced on the court; we’re playing five sophomores. And just for them to be able to come in and not necessarily be afraid or try to execute the best that they can. Really, they executed what we tried to do.”

Sanford travels to Noble ”“ which is also looking for its first win of the season ”“ on Monday, while Thornton travels to Portland, not knowing if it will have Lux available.

“I’m confident that the team ”“ no matter what the situation is ”“ the girls are going to respond positively,” said Marston.

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.