SACO — The Thornton Academy girls basketball team had a roller coaster of a 2010 season.

Starting off the season with a 1-8 record, including eight consecutive losses, it appeared head coach Eric Marston’s first year as a head coach for the Golden Trojans was its way to becoming a nightmare.

But then, as if by magic, the Trojans turned their season around, winning seven out of the next eight games. And even with a loss to Biddeford in the season finale, Thornton qualified for the Western Maine Class A playoffs before losing to Bonny Eagle 50-42 in the preliminary round.

“We got on a little bit of a roll there at the end,” Marston said. “With a new coach, the beginning of the season, there’s some changes that you try to become accustomed to as a team. I think once we got that squared away, we started to click a little bit more as a team. We’re just hoping we don’t get into a situation where we dig that big of a hole to start this year.”

“I think our team chemistry was a lot better at the end of last season,” Thornton forward Meghan Agger said. “ (In the beginning) it was kind of hard for some of our new players to mesh with some of the older players, but I think our team chemistry helped us.”

There’s plenty of reasons to like the Trojans in 2011. Thornton is stacked with forwards. Holding down the post is Olivia Shaw and Lauren Leskowsky, who are both 6-feet tall. Fellow forward Tori Lands is 5-feet-10, and Meghan Agger is 5-feet-9. Of the 13 active players on the Thornton roster, nine are forwards.

The injury bug, however, has already bitten the Trojans at the guard position. Hannah Murphy, who missed the end of last season with a knee injury, has a torn ACL, and is likely to miss the entire season.

The injury leaves four guards available, two of whom are freshmen. It’s likely the Agger sisters – Meghan and Jordan – could play the two guard spots. Both are listed as forwards but have experience at guard.

Also getting time is freshman Katie McCrum, and although it’s her first year of high school basketball, Marston said she plays better than her age.

“She doesn’t play like a freshman by any means,” Marston said. “I think she’s adjusted to (high school play) pretty well.”

Marston said he’s been happy with the defensive effort of the team so far, and multiple people have been contributing on offense.

“It hasn’t been a one person show,” Marston said. “We’ve had some situations in some of the games where somebody is playing particularly well, and the next game, someone else is stepping up. It’s nice that we have multiple kids to score, it’s a nice luxury to have.”

Beyond Murphy’s injury, the Trojans are still a team full of youth, with only four seniors on the roster this season. With that said, many of the younger players got time on the floor in 2010, including Jordan Agger and Shaw, who were both freshmen.

“Even though we have a number of sophomores, which is young, they played tremendous minutes last year,” Marston said. “We’re a young team on paper, but we’ve got girls with quite a bit of experience.”

As Jordan Agger explained, with a young team, even the sophomores have to step up this season and be leaders. And it helps that the group has played a year together.

“We’re all a lot closer,” she said.

At first glance, it appears York County girls basketball will be wide open for a playoff chase in 2011. Sanford is the only team other than Thornton that appears destined for a playoff spot, while questions are abound at how the rest of the league will shake out.

“I think you’re going to have some very well coached, very athletic teams in Cumberland County, obviously Cheverus, McAuley and Deering,” Marston said. “I don’t think anybody should go to sleep on Marshwood. I think they’re going to be very good. I think what’s nice is it’s wide open because the teams are pretty good. There should be some good ball being played in York County, which should be exciting for the fans as well.”

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 323 or follow on Twitter @Dave_Dyer.