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GORHAM — Close games have become standard fare for the Thornton Academy’s boys’ basketball team in the meat of its schedule, with four of its last five games decided by four points or less.

Friday night, the Golden Trojans played another nail-biter and reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in Class AA South with a 52-50 overtime victory against Gorham.

Gorham (9-4) scored the first basket in overtime on a layup by Stephen Burns, but the Rams were held scoreless the rest of the way.

Jack Tilley answered with a mid-range jumper, then broke the tie with a layup with 1:31 left.

Tilley led the Trojans (12-2) with 17 points, nine of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Down 52-50, Gorham lost possession but earned a jump ball, which allowed the Rams to retain possession with 13.9 seconds remaining.

“We tried to get hands on shooters; we didn’t want to lose on a shot at the buzzer,” said Tilley.

Senior forward Billy Ruby drove the baseline and threw a bounce pass to an open Burns in the corner, but the pass skipped past Burns out of bounds with 3.9 seconds left.

Gorham had more chance, though, when Cam Smith stole Thornton’s inbound pass and spun around to put up a deep 3-point attempt. The rebound came off the front of the rim to Ruby, but time ran out before he could get off a shot.

“I thought we played well all night, I thought we executed well. We missed a lot of shots,” said Gorham Coach Mark Karter.

Ruby finished with 23 points, including 13 in the second half, and 16 rebounds (five offensive).

“(Ruby) has really worked hard at his game, so it’s great to see him have success here in his senior year,” said Karter.

“(Ruby is) a good basketball player, it’s tough to stay in front of him,” said Thornton forward Rome Pura. “He has a complete game; we just tried our best to slow him down.”

Pura knocked down a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to give Thornton a 40-39 lead. It was the Trojans’ first lead since 6-4 midway through the first quarter, and the first of five lead changes in the fourth.

Pura added a 3-pointer from the corner to extend Thornton’s lead to 48-44. Gorham fought back, however, and forced overtime when Smith cut to the hoop and converted a pass from Sam Kilborn in the final minute of regulation.

Pura finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds.

“Rome gets the rebounds, but all the other guys are playing team defense and making sure nobody is around Romey so he can go get them,” said Davies.

Sophomore forward David Keohan came off the bench to contribute 15 points for the Trojans.

“We’re not really a one-man team,” said Tilley. “We play all five guys, we work the ball around a lot, so it’s hard to guard us on defense.”