Despite trailing by 13 points – a huge margin in such a tough defensive matchup – on more than one occasion Monday afternoon, Gorham fought back against their Thornton Academy hosts in the late going and ultimately claimed victory.

Emily Esposito led the Rams’ charge, catching fire after a slow (for Esposito) first half and single-handedly outscoring the entire Trojans lineup in the final quarter to gird a 53-48 upset on the road.

“Quite frankly, the key was to just persevere,” said Gorham head coach Laughn Berthiaume. “To stick with it. There were times that I felt things weren’t necessarily going well, and it would’ve been an easy out for the girls to start hanging their head, and they didn’t do that.”

The result bumps Gorham to 11-2 on the year; their other loss is to first-place McAuley (12-1). The Rams occupy fourth in A West, just behind Deering (11-2) and ahead of South Portland (10-3). Thornton, No. 2 at present, is also 11-2; their other loss is also to McAuley, whom they’ve beaten once as well.

The opening stretch on Monday afternoon was a defensive tug-of-war; both teams possessed the ball multiple times, but neither could sink a basket. Nearly three minutes had elapsed before TA powerhouse Victoria Lux dropped in the game’s first two.

From there, the Trojans built to 6-0 before Gorham called timeout to regroup. After the teams returned to the court, a pair of Abby Hamilton threes kept the Rams close on TA, 8-6, finally kicking the offensive portion of play into high gear.

Gorham mostly kept pace with the Trojans for the next eight minutes or so, into the latter half of the second quarter, but eventually began to slip. A diverse group of TA scorers, including Katie McCrum, Hayden Campbell, Isabella Robinson and Ashley Howe earned the Trojans a 21-15 advantage going into the break.

“First half, we didn’t play as well as we could have,” Esposito said. “Their defense was unreal, very good, and we passed it to them a few times.”

TA dominated the beginning minutes of the third quarter, appearing to secure the momentum and stifle any Gorham hopes of an underdog W. Howe in particular lit the board for the Trojans, leading them in amassing 32-19 and 35-22 leads.

Berthiaume said of his girls’ refusal to throw in the towel: “That’s the hard part to fight against. You try to make sure you’re always moving onto the next play; that’s something we believe in, we try to preach. And there’s no 13-point baskets out there, so you’ve just got to go possession by possession, try to get a good one: Attack the rim, stop the clock and get to the free-throw line – we did that a few times, and made a few key threes to get us back in it as well.”

Get back in it the Rams did. Esposito especially stoked a furious focus, shaking the heavy TA coverage that’d held her to just five points – four from the line – in the first half, and bucketing nine of Gorham’s 19 in the third. Teammate Kaylea Lundin nimbly drew a block in the waning seconds then sank both free-throws to hack the Trojans’ advantage to 39-32.

Esposito continued to declare herself in the fourth: She opened those proceedings with a quick offensive rebound for two, and soon baffled her TA defender with an on-the-move, behind-the-back bounce pass to Kristen Curley for an easy lay-in as the trio tumbled up-court. She immediately turned a pair of steals into four more, and all of a sudden, the board read 40-40. The Rams had emerged to raze Troy.

“Definitely in the second half, we were reading each other,” Esposito said of the Rams’ fight to even the score. “It was more like backdoor cuts – since they were playing such good defense, just take one step, go back door.”

Esposito saw the Rams’ synergy and depth as a strength in the face of TA’s tough defense.

“We have people who are ready to contribute, whether it’s coming off the bench or someone who’s basically a dark knight who’s a starter,” she said.

McCrum and Campbell pushed the Trojans ahead, 44-40, with just over a minute to play, but an Abby Hamilton three pulled Gorham back within one, and an Esposito two gave them their first lead of the game.

The last minute unfurled as a mishmash of foul shots and timeouts: Both teams called them, taking 30 seconds at a time to discuss maybe 10 seconds’ maneuvering. After Lux drained a two to recapture the lead, 46-45, with 34 seconds to play, Gorham’s Caitlyn Hawxwell missed a shot to turn the tides yet again. She and the other Rams played on, though; they hadn’t come this far to let one escaped opportunity disrupt them.

“We just had to keep our composure,” Esposito said. “Part of it was being mentally tough, and that’s something we talked about in practice. Sometimes, we’ll make a bad pass; we’ll just have to know, next time, ‘We can do this.’”

Hamilton fouled Lux to stop the clock at 16.4, but Lux missed her first free-throw on a one-and-one; the ensuing struggle for control ended in a jump ball to TA. Hamilton fouled Lux again, and this time, Lux sank both shots from the line: 48-45 with 8.2 to play. Momentarily, Esposito found herself at the line as well, where she gained back two.

With 6.6 left, Lux had the ball to inbounds beneath the Gorham net. Her long pass, though – so useful earlier in the game – got away from her teammate on the far end of the court, just slipped through her fingers and bounced out-of-bounds. Possession: Rams.

Esposito sees her team as able to feed on tension.

“I feel like sometimes we’re better in pressure than we are in regular game situations,” she said.

Lundin initiated the next attack; the Trojans immediately fouled her. Better to take their chances at the line than risk Gorham setting up anything big. But the line favored the Rams, and Lundin drained both her shots, giving her squad another lead, 49-48.

TA earned a technical, then: One of the Trojans tried to call a time-out with the team having none left to call; Ashley Woodbury nailed both shots for Gorham, making it 51-48. In desperation, TA fouled Esposito yet again. She, however, sank both her free-throws to put the Rams up by 5. With roughly three seconds on the clock, the Trojans’ had zero chance to reclaim this one. 53-38 the final.

“The free-throw line wasn’t very good to us in the first half,” Berthiaume said. The Rams made just five of 10 shots from the line prior to the break. “But it was extremely good to us at the end of the game,” she said.

Esposito posted a game-high 25. Hamilton had 14, including three 3-pointers; Lundin had just four total, but all four came at the line at critical moments. Howe hashed 12 for the Trojans.

The Rams flowed well when it counted, to Berthiaume’s satisfaction.

“That’s when we’re at our best,” Berthiaume said. “Obviously they focus on Esposito; Hamilton’s coming back off an injury, but she’s been a key player for us for a long time. So when we get contributions from everybody – it makes it more fun, too – but it certainly makes us tough to defend.”

Gorham hosts 1-12 Massabesic on Friday the 23rd; TA travels to Bonny Eagle that same evening.

Gorham point guard Kaylea Lundin shuttles the ball inward on the attack.Abby Hamilton elevates a shot over a Thornton defender Monday afternoon.Caitlyn Hawxwell dribbles into heavy TA coverage in Gorham’s fight to come back from a significant deficit.Emily Esposito had a game-high 25 points for the Rams on Monday at TA.