Thornton Academy 58

South Portland 47

“Meatloaf and potatoes.” Thornton Academy boys’ basketball coach Bob Davies wrote that message on the bulletin board in the locker room at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The message was clear, keep it simple. That’s exactly what the Trojans did when they got in trouble early in their 58-47 win over South Portland last Wednesday in their semifinal round game.

Early in the game, Thornton seniors Kory Martin and Jeff Winnie each got into early foul trouble. With the pair spending much of the early part of the game on the bench, someone had to step up for the Trojans.

“We just played basketball,” said Thornton coach Bob Davies. “We’re not concerned with anything else. We just play. We look to the next possession, not what happened behind us. We’re always saying ‘how do we get the advantage three seconds from now.’ That’s how we play the game.”

In stepped Dakota Greene.

Greene recorded a high school career best 20 points and played tough defense on Red Riots star Keegan Hyland. Greene was all over the floor and led Thornton to the regional final Saturday where they lost to Cheverus, 40-31.

“(Greene is) a very good defensive player and he did a nice job,” said South Portland coach Phil Conley. “I thought Keegan did a nice job. I don’t know what he had for points, but he had to work. He had to work to get his shots, but Keegan Hyland is a very good player.”

The game swung like a pendulum in the first quarter with four lead changes. The Red Riots asserted themselves midway through the first. Taking advantage of Trojan mistakes, the Riots ripped off six straight points to take a 12-6 lead. It was their biggest advantage of the night. Thornton inched closer and at the end of the first, South Portland held a 14-10 edge.

Thornton tied the game right away in the second quarter when Greene and James Morse made consecutive baskets. The teams swapped shots for the next few minutes until the Trojans took the lead for good midway through the period. Morse tied the game on a fallaway jumper. Then Greene gave his team the lead with two straight baskets. At intermission, Thornton held a 24-20 lead.

“We tried everything tonight,” Conley said. “We threw everything we had at them tonight defensively and they hit some shots. So I tip my cap to TA.”

Thornton took control in the third.

The teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the second half with South Portland getting within three points a few times. But an 11-3 run to finish out the quarter finished out the Riots. Greene made a three pointer to get things started. Then, Winnie hit for four straight points, followed by another basket from Greene. At the end of the third, Thornton had pulled out to a 45-34 lead.

“Coming out in the beginning of the third quarter was the most important part,” Greene said. “Our team defense was incredible.”

In the fourth, South Portland matched Thornton point for point. Each team recorded 13 points over the final eight minutes. The Riots could only get as close as seven before time ran short on them and they were forced to foul to stop the clock. The Trojans took advantage of their time at the charity stripe, going seven for 10 at the line. The Riots were stifled a bit down the stretch when Nick Wright got into foul trouble.

“That hurts us a little bit when Nick goes out,” Conley said. “He is our leading rebounder. Last game he had 17 boards. We’re not a big team anyway, so when you have to take him out it hurts. But I thought Connor Hasson, a sophomore, did a great job on the glass.”

The Red Riots season ended with a 14-4 record to earn the third seed in the western Maine tournament.

“This season was a blast,” said Conley. “I think what makes it easy is you have a great bunch of kids. All 15 of them are great kids and they came every day to work in practice. It’s like a family in there. In order to have a successful season you need that family atmosphere and we had that this year. It’s why we were the number three seed. I’m proud of the guys. I know it’s hard now, but I’m proud of our season.”