GORHAM – Emily Esposito racked up 23 vs. visiting Windham on Friday night, Jan. 6, leading the Rams in routing the Eagles while also setting a new school record for points in a career. Sophomore teammate and fellow powerhouse Mackenzie Holmes trailed Esposito closely in the bout: Holmes tallied 20 in the 69-32 victory.

“It’s not necessarily always knowing about the other team,” said Gorham head coach Laughn Berthiaume of his approach to the matchup. “I want to start with our team; make sure we’re playing with the defensive intensity we came out with. That’s the most important thing for us. But as far as Windham’s team: They’re quick, they’ve got some shooters we have to make sure we find and know where they are, and we did a pretty good job of that.”

Gorham remains undefeated on the season at 7-0; the team ranks first – with Scarborough nipping hungrily at their heels – in AA South. The Lady Rams and the Lady Storm were slated to meet on Dec. 30, but weather forced the postponement of that bout to Jan. 11. Gorham travels to No. 5 Thornton (5-3 in AA South) on the 10th.

For their part, Windham dips to 2-5 in AA North. The No. 6 Lady Eagles welcome Deering (third in AA North at 5-2) on the 10th, then travel to No. 8 Massabesic (0-7 in AA South) on the 12th.

The Eagles no doubt knew they were the underdogs against the Rams – not that that affected their strategy. “Our plan was to play our game,” said Windham head coach Brody Artes. “If anything, we were going to do our best to learn from our mistakes tonight. A good team is going to expose your weaknesses. We’re going to learn a lot from tonight, on film.”

Esposito looked a touch off her game in the first quarter, sinking only one basket – a three – in the stretch. Still, the shot was kindling for the Rams’ collective fire, and they built to a 12-4 advantage at the buzzer on additional points by Holmes, Michelle Rowe and Kaylea Lundin.

It didn’t much matter, as Berthiaume observed, that Espo needed a few minutes to heat up her hand. “Her ability to impact the game in so many ways is what makes her special,” he said. “You could see how hard she was playing on defense; she was getting a passing lane; she was getting tipped balls. It was allowing us to get out in transition and speeding up the game to the pace we like to play at. So there’s a number of different things she can do to make us play well.”

Gorham picked up further steam in the second. Espo found her groove, knocking down a trio of deuces and a free, and Holmes, Lundin, Rowe and Alexis Fotter also contributed. Despite tough play by Windhamites Meghan Hoffses, who turned a pretty steal into two, and Tara Flanders, who hashed four in the quarter, the Eagles found themselves down 34-12 at the break.

“We knew it was going to be a tough battle for us,” Artes said, “but the girls were excited for the competition, and I thought we played some intense basketball. We didn’t cower down; we definitely played hard. First quarter, I felt we played great. We missed three or four layups that could’ve made it a two-point game after that first quarter, could’ve changed the outcome of that first half and really the tempo of the second half. They did a really good job of trapping on the sidelines and putting pressure on our backcourt, closer to half-court. But when we got the ball to the foul line, we had a good look on the block. If we can do that a little bit more consistently next time, and convert, then we might have a better opportunity to stay in the game longer.”

Espo fed Holmes for a two from underneath to begin the third; Rowe followed up immediately with a steal she batted forward as she lost her footing and crashed to the court. Espo grabbed that ball, careening her way, and dished to Holmes, who proceeded to lay in two more. Espo soon struck again, spinning in the paint and launching into her trusty jumper.

Flanders then snapped the Rams’ run with a two, but the home team nevertheless had the momentum. Windham stood little chance of catching up. Hoffses and teammate Mya Mannette looked fiery in the stretch, adding downtowners, but the Eagles trailed 54-25 as the fourth approached.

Gorham continued to batter their guests in the final eight minutes, when Espo and Holmes both notched four and Lundin turned in a beautiful, acrobatic layup. Windham picked up seven of their own in that time – Anna Drummond, Molly Hodgkins and Hannah Talon doing the honors – but the buzzer proved their death-knell. 

“This group have a lot of experience on the court together,” Berthiaume said. “I was pleased with the energy we came off the bench with – Courtney Brent; Brittany Desjardin; Michelle Rowe, for us, who is a new starter this year, had a number of offensive rebounds in the first half. Those are all energy things that those players are able to do for us. It starts with our front group, who set the tone for how hard we want to play, but everybody follows suit.”

The Rams look well-oiled even now, roughly a third of the way through the season. But Berthiaume, like any good coach, knows there are always improvements to make. “There’s a number of things we can work on,” he said. “Sometimes, teams expect us to go out and outscore teams, but we can defend and rebound better all the time. I want to be greedy in that area. [The girls] are buying in. It’s that part where playing hard and being active is fun. And that starts with our senior leadership, and that’s what’s working for us right now.”

Lundin finished with 10 (including a pair of threes) for the Rams, Fotter five, Rowe four, Brittany Desjardin three, and Sarah Walker and Jacqui Hamilton two apiece.

Hoffses led the Eagles with seven. Flanders contributed six; Mannette five; Talon and Hodgkins three each; and Drummond, Lyndsey Arsenault and Kayla Gorham two apiece.

“Losing by the margin we did isn’t always, necessarily a bad thing,” Artes said. “We’re going to have a lot of good conversation about this. We can learn from it, move on, and hopefully use it to our advantage down the road. [Gorham’s] a good team, seasoned team, well-coached, got some stud players.”

“We definitely were mismatched in a lot of positions today,” said Artes. “We’ve got to do our best to try to stay as fundamental as possible, but also to learn from what they do offensively. Mackenzie is very smooth inside; she’s got a lot of really good moves on the block to get herself open, but she’s also a great passer, so if she gets the ball and doesn’t have a good look, she’s going to make a good pass. Emily is Emily; she’s a phenomenal athlete. She had a couple shots tonight, I’m like, ‘That’s a good shot. You’re not going to guard that.’ We can make it a goal for us to be at their level.”

Espo’s total on the night pushed her to 1174 points in her career – the single highest tally by any Ram, ever. She eclipsed Noel Beagle, a 2000 graduate, who finished with 1163. Beagle, in fact, was on hand, as were several other members of the Gorham 1000-point club, all of whom were honored after the matchup. Kelly Butterfield, who graduated in 1981 with 1123 points to hear name; her coach George Stevenson; Nancy Philbrick (’86, 1008); her coach Eric Pettingill; and Mike Burke (’97, 1090) were all present for Espo’s record-breaking performance and took part in the ceremony afterward. Unable to attend were Keith Young (’91, 1123) and Ben Thayer (’05, 1067).

Emily Esposito led with 23 points vs. visiting Windham on Friday night. Espo’s total made her Gorham’s all-time leading scorer, with 1174 points.

Kaylea Lundin ascends toward the net for Gorham; Windhamite Kayla Gorman attempts to defend.

Under heavy pressure, Alexis Fotter clutches the ball.

Taylor Files gets around Jacqui Hamilton, looking for a bucket.

Hannah Talon works through the paint, defended by Gorham’s Courtney Brent.

Eagle Meghan Hoffses takes to the air in pursuit of two.

Windham’s Mya Mannette drives into the lane; Gorhamite Kristen Curley towers overhead.

Mackenzie Holmes lofts a shot toward the net for Gorham; Eagle Tara Flanders does what she can to block.

A swarm of players grapple after a loose ball, including Gorhamites Brittany Desjardin (11) and Jacqui Hamilton (24).

Ram Michelle Rowe looks for a pass option from the outside-high.

Courtney Brent reels in a rebound for the Rams.

Windhamite Emily Drummond shunts the ball ahead on the attack.