Thornton’s Victoria Lux led all scorers – Lux drained eight twos and a lone free, for 17 total – as the Trojans overwhelmed Gorham in Feb. 18’s semifinals bout at the Cross Insurance Arena. Rams standout Emily Esposito added 14, Kristin Curley nine and Abby Hamilton seven, but the No. 3 seed simply couldn’t keep pace with the No. 2, and eventually fell 42-32.

The result ousted Gorham from postseason contention, and they retired for the year at 17-3. Thornton, however, rolled to 18-2 on the win, and, more importantly, advanced to Saturday, Feb. 21’s A West Regional Final against first-place McAuley. The Trojans won that hard-fought battle as well, 41-31, earning a berth vs. Lawrence in the state championship on the 28th.

“I was actually pleased with the way we tried to execute, even though we didn’t win,” said Gorham head coach Laughn Berthiaume. “I thought we played aggressive – all the things you want. I just didn’t think the ball went through the hoop enough times.”

Thornton jumped to a substantial lead in the first half – a lead as large as 11, 20-9, with roughly three minutes to play before the break. Gorham, though, ended the second quarter with a Hamilton three and an Esposito two, slashing the deficit to 20-14. When the squads returned for the third, neither managed to bucket any points for almost half the period, but when one of them did, it was Gorham again – a Curley three.

Esposito followed up with another two, and suddenly the Rams were back in it, down by just one, 20-19. Gorham kept the score fairly tight, even into late fourth; with just about a minute and a half left on the clock, the Rams trailed by just four, 32-28.

“I thought we defensive-rebounded pretty well there, in the third quarter, and we got up the floor first…and didn’t finish,” Berthiaume said. “I thought we had a stretch where we got out in front maybe five times and we didn’t execute the fast break.”

One other key to the Rams success, limited though it ultimately proved, was keeping the Thornton shooters quiet from the outside: The Rams didn’t sink a single three all night. However, closer in, they remained plenty dangerous.

Thornton reached escape velocity as time evaporated, however, fueled by Lux underneath, ferociously rebounding, and Kaitlyn McCrum at the line. McCrum netted five frees in the waning seconds to seal the deal and extract some sweet revenge, or at least a little vindication: When the teams met in the regular season, in Saco back on Jan. 19, the Rams pulled out a spectacular W.

So what was the difference between that game and this one?

“We made shots,” Berthiaume said of the earlier matchup. “I felt like we defended well, I felt like we got some good looks, tonight; unfortunately, we didn’t shoot the ball great.”

Gorham senior Caitlyn Hawxwell vaults toward the net; Thornton freshman Alexandra Hart defends.Ram Emily Esposito goes between the legs as she screeches to a halt, letting Thornton’s Alexandra Hart slide past.Gorham’s Kaylea Lundin passes around Thornton’s Alexandra Hart.