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On the morning of Feb. 7, the Bonny Eagle boys basketball team was 6-11 and last in Class AA South.

How things have changed for the Scots in 13 days. They beat short-handed Noble, the top team in Class A South, to gain huge Heal points and move up to fourth in the final standings. They won their unexpected home quarterfinal in overtime against Sanford.

And Thursday night at Cross Insurance Arena, Bonny Eagle advanced to the AA South final, thanks to a stunning 47-41 victory against No. 1 Thornton Academy.

Brody Taylor, a 6-foot-9 senior center, led the Scots with 23 points.

“Honestly, we’ve been counted out the whole season, so we had a chip on our shoulder coming into this game,” said point guard Colin Moran, who scored nine points. “The feeling is great. I can’t even explain this feeling right now. I’m just happy I did it with my teammates out there.”

Bonny Eagle (9-11), which would have to win the state title to get to a .500 record, will play No. 2 South Portland (15-5) at 7:45 p.m. Saturday at the Cross Arena.

Thornton, which never led Thursday, finished 16-3.

How it happened

• Bonny Eagle played to its strength early, getting the ball to the rugged Taylor as often and as close to the basket as possible. Taylor did his job, scoring 11 first-half points and also getting an offensive rebound/kickout assist to Lucas Klehn to give the Scots a 23-10 lead with about three minutes left in the half. The inside attack started with Bonny Eagle guards, especially Moran, being able to drive into the paint and get dump-down passes to Taylor.

“I didn’t want this to be my last game, and I know all the other seniors didn’t want it to be their last game. I just feel we’re ready for anything now,” Taylor said.

• Thornton got in transition for the first time late in the first half and generated quick hoops by Wyatt Benoit and Trey Eldred in a 6-0 run. Bonny Eagle took a 25-16 lead to the locker room.

• In the third quarter, Bonny Eagle stretched its lead to as many as 10 points. Thornton made some mini-runs but was never closer than four points, and that came with 12 seconds to play on an Eldred 3-pointer. Logan Sturgis made two free throws for Bonny Eagle. Max Bouchard, Bonny Eagle’s other 6-9 big, sealed the game with a steal.

“We didn’t do a very good job of keeping their guards out of the paint, and that was our whole game plan going in,” said Thornton coach Mike Nelson. “They got a shoulder-to-chest advantage, and then our bigs have to help a bit, and you give two 6-9 guys a little bit of space, they can just throw it up, catch it, and lay it in.”

Keys to the game

• Two slick Bouchard-to-Taylor plays for layups helped keep Thornton at bay in the fourth quarter. Taylor scored 10 points on five baskets in the last eight minutes.

• Benoit, the leading scorer in Class AA for a second consecutive season, was kept in check. He scored 16 points but struggled to find rhythm in the half-court offense. CJ Cooper was the primary defender, with lots of sagging help. Simon Gellis (11 points) and Trey Eldred (10 points) contributed to Thornton’s offense that was hindered down the stretch by seven fourth-quarter turnovers.

They said it

• “We’re an up-and-down team. We struggled a lot this season. Struggled a lot with a lot of different things. But I’d rather take a bunch of dogs than a bunch of rule followers. These guys get after each other, on and off the court, but when the bright lights are on they become ballers, and it’s pretty impressive.” — Bonny Eagle coach John Trull