Back in December, the Gorham boys were given quite a welcome to SMAA basketball. Within nine days, the Rams faced Portland, Deering and Cheverus – a trio that is now ranked one, two and three in the latest Class A west Heal points and could be the three best teams in the state.

Gorham was beaten by each of the city teams, but – even with a couple of starters hurt – the margins were only two, six and 10 points. It was a trial by fire, but it made clear that the new guys from Class B belong with the big boys.

The Rams (9-3) haven’t lost a league game since, extending that streak with a win Saturday over visiting Bonny Eagle, 68-59.

“That’s nine in a row, and I’m pretty proud of that,” said Gorham coach Kevin Jenkins. “With the injuries and the psyche of being 0-3, I thought that’d be a big challenge for us, but they’ve really done a nice job of meeting the challenge.”

Of course, such challenges are made easier when a roster spot is filled by someone with the athleticism of Jeff Manchester. The explosive guard scored six points in the first two minutes against the Scots (7-5) and finished the first quarter with 14.

By the final buzzer the senior guard, who leads the SMAA in scoring with an average of 22.9 points per game, had poured in 32 using an array of penetrating moves, three-point shots and free throws.

“No matter what you try to do, it seems like it’s not quite good enough (to stop Manchester),” Bonny Eagle coach Rick Simonds said. “He’s a special player. He’s a great kid, and he makes us look bad a lot.”

The Scots had their own offensive weapon in Anthony Atkins, whose smooth outside stroke resulted in 21 points for the junior forward. James Hanley was also tough, working inside for a dozen points.

The score see-sawed back-and-forth early, with Manchester sinking jumpers from beyond the arc to break ties 60 seconds into the action and again three minutes later. His third three of the quarter put the Rams up by four, a margin they held after one.

Hanley had provided the inside punch for Bonny Eagle in the opening period, but Atkins came out firing in the second. He hit three outside shots in the first two minutes, the third a three-pointer that took the lead back for his team.

“How about Atkins?” Jenkins asked. “I don’t think he can shoot an awful lot better than that.”

Things were tight again until Manchester put in seven points in a flurry approaching halftime, capped off by a baseline drive that resulted in a good hoop and a free throw. Gorham was up by seven, but seconds later Matt Trask delivered a painful blow to the Scots when his three-pointer extended the lead to 10.

Halftime defensive adjustments seemed to slow Manchester a little, but several teammates had complimentary games. Rams center Rob Connolly had six points and four blocks, including one of Hanley early in the second half. Max Bass then grabbed the loose ball and got it to a streaking Connolly, who laid it in.

“Those were two beautiful plays,” Jenkins said. “That was a highlight play.”

“(Manchester) gets a lot of pressure,” said Connolly, “so the rest of us just have to fill in and work hard.”

Colin Hurd also put in hard work for Gorham.

“Colin Hurd doesn’t score much, so he doesn’t get a lot of notoriety,” said Jenkins, “but he has been just a bull out there. He gets rebounds where you’re not expecting him to get them.”

Midway through the third Bonny Eagle found themselves down 19 after Manchester followed another three with a pair of foul shots. Atkins helped his team battle back, hitting a pair of threes, and when Hanley scored on a fast break with a few seconds to go in the quarter, the lead was back to single digits, 49-40.

The gap hovered around there until the Scots’ Ben Delcourt sliced it to five with 1:50 to go, but a three-point play from Gorham’s Andrew Dean (13 points), and a steal and lay-up from Manchester iced it for the hosts.

“We had a rhythm going coming into the second half and things slowed down,” said Hurd. “They hit a few shots and we missed a few that we should have made.”

Bonny Eagle guard Scott Proudman, who had the unenviable task of guarding Manchester for most of the evening, had seven points. Michael Harmon added six.

“I thought our kids hung tough,” Simonds said. “Midway through the third we could have thrown in the towel, but we didn’t.”

“We came back and played as hard as we could,” said Hanley.

The two squads meet again Feb.10 in Standish in the season finale for both programs. Until then the fourth-ranked Rams and fifth-ranked Scots will try to secure the best position possible going into the post-season.

“I’m really excited about the last three weeks,” said Jenkins. “It’s going to be fun.”