WINDHAM — Top-ranked Bonny Eagle missed its first six shots before Dustin Cole scored four minutes into the game Friday night.

The good thing for the Scots was that Windham had only a 3-0 lead.

Bonny Eagle eventually found the range and went on to a 60-43 victory in a Western Class A boys’ basketball game.

Bonny Eagle relies on the 3-pointer. Some nights the Scots are hot coming out of the gate and sometimes they’re not. But like all long-range shooting teams, they keep putting them up and usually their share will drop.

“We started out slowly but knew we had to keep our composure,” said Cole. “We usually go on a hot spell and get on a roll. The team is starting to play together. Everyone has been playing well.”

Cole finished with a game- high 24 points and didn’t score in the third quarter. In typical Cole fashion, he finished strongly with 10 points in the fourth.

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With the score 12-12 early in the second quarter, Bonny Eagle hit three straight 3s.

Cole hit one from the right corner. Moments before he had scored on a layup to break the tie. Reserve Nate Schopen hit a 3 and Nick Dubay followed with another for an 11-0 run. Point guard Markus D’Andrea scored for Windham, but Cole finished off the half with two drives for baskets around a basket by Ryan Gorman for the Eagles (4-6).

The Scots (11-0) led 27-16 at the half and stayed comfortably ahead in the second half although a couple of spurts gave Windham hope.

Led by D’Andrea and C.J. Berthiaume, Windham won the third quarter, 17-15. D’Andrea scored nine points in the quarter; Berthiaume chipped in with six.

A three-point play by D’Andrea made it a seven-point game. In the fourth quarter another three-point play by D’Andrea made it a nine-point game with 5:36 left, but Cole took over, sinking 6 of 8 from the line.

D’Andrea scored 17 of his team-high 21 points in the second half.

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Bonny Eagle, which played Thursday night against Gorham, may have been affected early by the quick turnaround.

“I think a couple of guys came in a little banged-up,” said Coach Phil Bourassa. “We missed some shots early but we played well defensively the whole game. Windham plays physical and limits you to one shot. Their point guard is very good. It was fun watching him and Dustin go at it.

“We have a few days of rest before we play a very good Portland team.”

Bonny Eagle and Portland, both undefeated, will square off in their only regular-season meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at St. Joseph’s College. The game, Bonny Eagle’s home contest, was moved before the season in anticipation of a big crowd that the Scots’ gym wouldn’t be able to accommodate.

Bourassa lauded his team’s effort against the Eagles, who were missing their leading scorer, Spencer Hodge, who suffered a high ankle sprain in practice Thursday.

Nate Alexander hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second half and Jon Woods chipped in with eight points while playing a strong floor game for Bonny Eagle.

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“Nate tends to step up when it really matters. That’s what we love about him,” said Bourassa.

“Jon played great defensively and set a lot of screens. We’re doing some nice things but we can definitely improve upon them.”

The Eagles had their chances to make it a closer game than the final margin. Several of their shots rimmed out. The Eagles would make strong moves to the basket but couldn’t convert a number of times.

“You have to attribute our misses a little bit to Bonny Eagle because they make you rush,” said Windham Coach Kevin Millington. “We have guys who normally make those shots but they were feeling people around them. We had our chances to keep it closer, I’ll say that. I don’t think we were a threat to win but definitely to keep it closer.

“With Bonny Eagle you have to pick your poison. You can stop Dustin, but you can pray for some misses and we got those. Before long Bonny Eagle got extra rebounds and scored on them.”

Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter:TomChardPPH


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