Bonny Eagle’s Nick Dubay and Gorham’s Nick Thibeault matched each other Tuesday night, posting 18 apiece as their squads squared off in Standish. It was the diversity of the Rams’ attack, then, that gave them the edge in the end; nine of coach Mark Karter’s boys added points as they charged to a 55-37 victory over the Scots.

“It’s a rivalry game,” Karter said, “so you always want to come out and play well. I thought our kids did a good job tonight. It’s tough – the weather has kind of wreaked havoc with us, and nobody’s had any practice time. So without preparing, you never know what’s going to happen, but I thought we came out and did a good job early on tonight.”

The result bumps No. 4 Gorham to 13-4 on the season, and drops seventh-ranked Bonny Eagle to 10-7. The Rams also won, 53-37, when the teams met earlier in the season, on Jan. 2.

Gorham grabbed a first-quarter lead they never relinquished. Thibeault contributed five of 14 in those opening eight minutes, but Trent Bassingthwaite, Spencer Ruda, Sam Kilborn and Billy Ruby all drained baskets as well. On the other side of the ball, Dubay led Bonny Eagle; he hashed eight of the team’s 10, with Jeff Martin picking up the other two.

The net result: a match that looked to unfold lopsidedly, even from the get-go.

Make no mistake, the Scots fought, and hard. But their shots looked less willing to fall, they couldn’t grab quite enough rebounds and they turned the ball over too often to chew threw a deficit.

“The key is to be able to force those turnovers, and be able to play that type of game, without giving up many easy baskets,” Karter said of his boys’ ability to generate steals and strongarm the opposition into handing the ball back on infractions. “For the most part, I thought we did that.”

Troy Bogdahn knocked down a two to begin the second quarter, but Gorham’s Cam Smith followed it up immediately with four of his own; Ben Malloy then grabbed a two only for Billy Ruby to answer with another pair of twos, the second of which came on a beautiful, blunt steal as Malloy tried to inbounds the ball beneath the net. By the break, the Rams led 35-21.

“Offensively, we do have a height advantage,” Karter said. “So we tried to exploit that a little bit, but I also thought we did a good job of getting up and running; we had some easy transition baskets, which kind of stretched it out for us.”

Zach Dubiel closed the first half with a three for Bonny Eagle, and Dubay opened the second half with another; had the team found a groove? Well, the action surely evened out: Malloy added another three that quarter, and Dubay one more from the line, and though those seven were all the team could muster, the Rams managed just nine themselves.

Though the Scots’ volleys weren’t finding their marks often enough on Tuesday, their lineup nevertheless is quite capable, which Karter is fully aware of.

“Defensively,” he said, “we have to contend with a great shooting team…I thought we extended on their shooters pretty well, and for the most part, we rebounded and limited them to only one shot.”

The fourth proved a similar story. Bonny Eagle had slowed Gorham’s attack substantially; alas, they couldn’t juice their own shooting, and certainly not enough to regain any ground. The Rams bagged the W 55-37 at the buzzer.

In addition to Dubay’s 18, Bogdahn finished with seven. Malloy, who recently notched his 1,000th point, had an uncharacteristically quiet night with five. Alongside Thibeault’s 18, Ruby had 12.

Karter readily praised a number of his players.

“I thought Cody Elliot played really well; I thought Trent Bassingthwaite, Billy Ruby and Cam Smith – those guys really gave us some good energy, coming in off the bench, and got us to stretch it out a little bit in the second quarter. That was an important quarter for us to stretch our lead.”

The Rams close their regular schedule on Thursday, Feb. 5, at Westbrook. The Scots also finish up on Thursday, at Windham.

“We’ve been happy with where we’re at,” Karter said. “It’s a great group of kids; they work extremely hard. I still think we’re learning and getting better.”

Ben Malloy recently drained his 1,000th point, but had an unusually slow night at home against Gorham Tuesday – just five points.Bonny Eagle’s Nick Dubay posted a game-high 18.Antonio Bruni brushes past a Gorham defender.Billy Ruby dropped in 12 for the Rams in their victory at Bonny Eagle Tuesday night.Gorham’s Tyler Bernaiche makes for the basket; Bonny Eagle’s Troy Bogdahn defends.Nick Thibeault outsizes Dylan Ricci on his way to the basket; Thibeault had 18 for the Rams in their win over the Scots.