The Thornton Academy girls basketball team will be navigating uncharted territory Saturday, as the Trojans face a team they’ve never faced at an arena they’ve never played at in a game they’ve never been to.

So the only way head coach Eric Marston said he knows to prepare for the unknown in the Class A state championship game against Lawrence is to focus on what he does know ”“ his own team.

“We’re preparing for them as we would any other game, where we’re focused primarily on ourself, and controlling the things that we can control,” said Marston. “We’re certainly trying to get an idea about some of the things that they do and some of their personnel by watching some film.”

What Marston and the Trojans will find on that film is a Bulldogs team worthy of playing in Saturday’s state title game.

The Eastern Maine champions went 17-1 during the regular season, with their only loss on the road against top-seeded Bangor. Lawrence then won comfortably in the quarterfinal (Messalonskee) and semifinal (Brunswick) rounds before edging the Rams in the rubber game of that season series.

The Bulldogs are led by junior center Nia Irving, who Marston said is considered one of the best players in the state. The 6-foot-1 Irving averaged more than 20 points per game and nearly 20 rebounds per game during the season.

“She’s got a motor that doesn’t stop. She just goes 100 miles an hour for 32 minutes,” Marston said of Irving. “We’re going to have to do a lot of different things to try to prevent her from catching the ball, and we’re going to have to try to keep her off the glass.”

Bangor kept Irving quiet in the Eastern Maine final, allowing junior guard Dominique Lewis to score a game-high 17 points. Paige Belanger was named the tournament’s most outstanding player and played dominant defense in the regional final.

“Our strength is our overall balance,” said Lawrence head coach John Donato. “Nia’s been my high scorer all year, but when Bangor shut her down my perimeter players shot the ball well. If they want to double Nia inside, that means my guards outside can hit the 3 or hit the 2 or whatever they need to do.”

Marston said the Bulldogs are similar to McAuley, which Thornton beat in the Western Maine final.

“They have a dominant post player like Jess Willerson, who we had to be concerned about, and then they have outstanding guard play like McAuley does,” Marston said of the Bulldogs. “I think it will be that kind of a challenge I think.”

Where the Bulldogs and Lions differ, however, is in offensive production. Lawrence averages 65 points per game, a number Marston called “extremely high.”

Lawrence is no slouch when it comes to defense, either, as it held opponents to 37 points per game ”“ Thornton held its opponents to a Class A West-low 27 points per game.

“We’re giving up less than 30 and they’re averaging over 60, so something’s got to give,” said Marston.

In the Trojans, Lawrence itself will find an unfamiliar foe. Donato said it’s hard to find a comparison to what he knows of Thornton.

“We played a pretty good schedule, but I don’t know if we played anybody as tough as Thornton,” said Donato, who won his 500th game this season. “It will be a matchup of different regions and different styles of basketball.”

Donato said his team will have to focus on stopping Western Maine tournament MOP Victoria Lux, who he called “pretty special,” but also will have to worry about the “quickness and speed” of Thornton’s guards.

Ball security and post defense will be keys for a Bulldog victory, according to Donato. For Thornton, Marston said it all starts with defense.

“We’re just going to continue to do what we’ve done from the first day of the season, and that is be aggressive on the defensive end and try to put some pressure on the guards to make it a little bit more difficult for them to feed the post,” said Marston. “And we’re going to try to contest every post shot and every perimeter shot, and then not allow second opportunities.”

The game will be played at the Augusta Civic Center, just a short drive from Lawrence High School and where the Bulldogs won all three of their tournament games. It’s a venue that many of the Thornton players have never been to, but Marston said short of some early-game jitters he didn’t think the unfamiliar location will be much of a factor.

“Just like in ”˜Hoosiers,’ when they measure the foul line and measure the hoop, once the ball goes up I think these kids will realize they’re playing on a regular basketball court and just get back to basics,” said Marston.

Lawrence will be looking to win its first state title since 1994, when Cindy Blodgett finished her career with a fourth-straight championship. The Trojans have never made an appearance in the state final, and will be looking to add a girls basketball gold ball to Thornton Academy’s extensive trophy case.

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.