Underdog Windham High kept pace with the high-scoring third-seeded Gorham girls’ basketball team – until the final 90 seconds of the first half.
Abby Hamilton canned her fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the half to start a 12-0 run and the Rams built a 15-point halftime lead. Gorham was never threatened again in a 62-36 Western Class A quarterfinal win Monday at the Portland Expo.
“Windham did go on a run and (our run) helped get our minds right again,” Hamilton said. “It helped get our confidence going again.”
Hamilton finished with 24 points. Emily Esposito (16 points) and Kaylea Lundin (10) were also key contributors for the Rams.
Sadie Nelson led No. 11 Windham (9-11) with 14 points.
Gorham (17-2) will face No. 2 Thornton Academy in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cross Insurance Arena.
While Hamilton was hot early, Windham did a good job limiting touches for Esposito, the SMAA’s second-leading scorer (17.5 points per game).
But it was Esposito who scored two hoops inside sandwiched around two Hamilton technical foul free throws in the final seconds of the half.
Esposito scored the first two baskets of the second half and assisted on an inside three-point play by Hamilton that gave Gorham its first 20-point lead, 43-23.
“Too much of (Hamilton) and Esposito overall,” said Windham Coach Brody Artes. “It’s very difficult when you have two players that are very good and very versatile to defend them.”
Hamilton, a senior, missed last season’s quarterfinal loss to Portland because of an ACL injury.
Against Windham she made her first 3-pointer about eight seconds into the game and quickly added a second.
“That’s what I have to do mostly for this team,” Hamilton said. “It helped get my momentum going and it kind of broke the ice for the game, and we just kind of went off from there.”
Lundin, a fast 5-foot-3 guard, was a spark with seven first-quarter points. Most adept at penetrating to the basket, Lundin hit a deep 2 at the buzzer for a 15-9 lead.
Windham’s best sequence came in the second quarter. Eight quick points from Nelson combined with a Lyndsey Arsenault jumper cut the Gorham lead to 24-21.
“I thought early in the second quarter we were settling for a lot of 3-pointers, a lot of outside shots,” said Gorham Coach Laughn Berthiaume. “Later we were able to get some more high-percentage shots.”
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