SACO — Down by one with time winding down, the Thornton Academy girls basketball team had two chances to take the lead, but South Portland standout Maddie Hasson would block one shot and the other would bounce off the iron as the Golden Trojans dropped a 29- 28 heartbreaker on Wednesday night.

The Trojans struggled on the offensive end in the opening quarter as they managed just three points in the frame. South Portland would use six points from Hasson to take a 10-3 lead into the second.

TA rallied back in the second period with Cassidy Cochrane and Isabella Robinson each scoring four points and Alex Hart adding a 3-pointer to help the Trojans outscore the Red Riots 11-6 in the quarter and cut the lead to 16-14 at the half.

The Red Riots started the third quarter strong as they would quickly open up an eightpoint lead. It wouldn’t last long as the Trojans got six points late – including a 3-pointer with time winding down from Kaylee Burns to cut the South Portland lead to 22-20 after three.

Burns continued her hot shooting as she nailed a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter scoring and give the Trojans their first lead of the night at 23- 22 with 6:25 to play.

South Portland came back to take the lead midway through the period and were looking to just run out the clock.

The Red Riots, who led 29-28 with three minutes left, were able to run down a lot of the time, but the Trojans would get a couple chances down the stretch.

Unfortunately for the Trojans, Hassan would send a 3-pointer into the bleachers with just over 10 seconds left and TA’s last-second shot wouldn’t fall.

TA was led by Burns with 10 points, while Ashley Howe and Hart had five points each.

Hassan led all scorers with 12 points and the Red Riots would also get eight points from Meghan Graff.

South Portland improved to 12-2 with the win, while Thornton Academy dropped to 9-4.