SACO — If this really was a preview of the Class AA South boys’ basketball regional final, then it was South Portland that came to Linnell Gymnasium with playoff-worthy energy Friday night.
The defending regional champions, coming off a close loss at Deering, handed host Thornton Academy its first loss of the season. South Portland started fast, disrupting the Golden Trojans with its matchup zone defense, and led for nearly the entire game in a 68-58 victory.
“Coming off the loss at Deering, we kind of came in with a chip on our shoulders,” said South Portland senior forward Ansel Stilley. “We came in ready to play hard and take care of business.”
South Portland (9-2) led 16-5 at the end of the first quarter, forcing Thornton (11-1) into five turnovers and 2-of-13 shooting.
“They performed really well tonight and executed right from the get-go and we didn’t play,” said Thornton Coach Bob Davies.
South Portland and Thornton are the only teams in AA South with winning records, making them heavy favorites to get a quarterfinal bye, win a semifinal and get to the regional final.
Going into Friday’s contest, Thornton had not won by less than 11 points. Similarly, all eight of South Portland’s wins had been by at least nine points.
Thornton is at Portland on Tuesday, with further challenges coming up against Cheverus and Windham.
South Portland has a crushing schedule down the stretch, including two games with Cheverus and rematches against Portland and Deering, the two squads that have beaten the Red Riots.
“This is what we want. We want to play good games,” said South Portland Coach Kevin Millington. “You aren’t going to get anywhere without playing good teams.”
The final minutes of Friday’s game will provide lessons for both teams. South Portland was sloppy with several passes after having a 16-point fourth-quarter lead. Millington chalked up the poor execution to it being the first time this season his team was protecting a lead against a quality opponent.
Thornton had the lead down to six after an Austin Boudreau 3-pointer with 44 seconds to play.
The comeback essentially ended when South Portland’s Riley Hasson was fouled with 41 seconds remaining and then Thornton was called for its second technical of the game. Hasson made three of four free throws.
“They’re high school kids, they’re going to make mistakes, but it’s something they’re going to have to learn from,” Davies said.
South Portland had four players in double figures. Ruay Bol scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half. With Bol in foul trouble, Stilley picked up the slack, scoring 12 of his 14 points in the second half. Noah Malone added 12 points, and Hasson, known as a defensive specialist, finished with 11.
David Keohan led Thornton with 20 points, continually working hard near the basket. Boudreau scored 11 points and John Fogg had 10.
Thornton’s big three of Keohan, Evan Christensen (nine points) and Boudreau all got untracked in the second quarter as Thornton closed to within 22-21 on a Christensen three-point play with 3:49 left.
But South Portland closed the quarter on a 7-0 run for a 29-21 halftime lead, aided by a corner 3-pointer from Deandre White (eight points).
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
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