Gorham 57

Bonny Eagle 34

The Gorham boys’ basketball team used big runs in the first and third quarters to defeat Bonny Eagle 57-34 Friday night in Standish. Mike Foustoukos led the Rams with 16 points. Andrew Arena had 12. John Onesti paced the Scots with eight points.

“For whatever reason they have a tough time matching up with us,” said Gorham coach Kevin Jenkins. “Everyone has someone they have a tough time with. They don’t have perimeter shooting and Foustoukos seals off the inside so they have a tough time scoring. It’s a tough match for them as an injured team. If they had those other guys they would have been able to match up better.”

The Rams put the pedal to the metal in the first quarter with a 14-5 run. Gorham opened the game with seven straight points before the Scots called a timeout to regroup. Following the timeout Nate Doehler scored Bonny Eagle’s first points. But Gorham ran off another seven straight to lead 14-2. A free throw and a jumper by Brian Butler gave the Scots five.

“We usually do a pretty good job on defense,” Foustoukos said. “We wanted to step it up tonight try and crash the boards to keep them to one shot. They are a good team. They beat Deering and a lot of good teams. They played a lot of good teams to the wire so we knew it would be a tough game. It’s a rivalry game so we knew it would be a good one.”

Things evened out in the second quarter as both teams put nine points on the board. The Scots were unable to make a dent in the deficit thanks in large part to the Gorham big men inside. At halftime Gorham led 23-14.

Gorham exploded again in the third quarter for 19 points. They opened the second half with a 13-2 run that all but sealed the win. Isaac Barnes had six of his 11 points in the third to pace the Rams. By the end of the third, Gorham led 42-20.

Down the stretch as the Scots tried in vain to make a comeback, the Rams matched them shot for shot. A 12-0 run midway through the fourth put the Rams over the top and handed the Scots their tenth loss of the year.

The Rams finished the season 10-8 after losing their first six games of the year.

“We’re really trying to take it one day at a time,” Foustoukos said. “It’s my last season so I want to enjoy every minute of it. A lot of people have been telling me to enjoy every moment and I’m glad we got out of the cellar to where we are now. It’s tremendous.”

The Rams were scheduled to face Windham in the preliminary round of the tournament.

The Scots faced a lot of injuries and trials this season but they also found their way to the tourney. They were scheduled to take on Westbrook in the prelims.

“I really want to compliment coach Simonds for having such a great year with such adversity,” Jenkins said. “He has had different kids out there every game. The fact that they won eight games, they beat Deering but they lost some close games to some good teams. I think he deserves to be coach of the year in the SMAA. He did a great job. No one else could have withstood the losses they have and had a tournament team.”