SACO – The Scarborough girls’ basketball team has only one senior. You’d never know it by the way the Red Storm played Friday in a 48-32 win over Thornton Academy.

A dominant first half gave way to a faltering second half as Scarborough’s 16-point lead was trimmed to five with 5:17 remaining.

No problem. Just turn it over to the underclassmen.

Freshman Ashley Briggs hit a pair of pretty shots, including a baseline 18-footer, and four underclassmen scored down the stretch to help Scarborough stay perfect at 8-0.

“We run a lot of situations in practice,” Scarborough Coach Tom Maines said. “We run everything with a ball in hand so the girls know what to do in situations. I don’t think age has anything to do with it. In fact some seniors choke as much as freshmen.”

Scarborough’s full-court defense had a stranglehold on the Trojans (4-3). The Red Storm forced 28 turnovers. In the first quarter, Scarborough earned steals on four straight Thornton possessions. Then a pass went out of bounds. Then Scarborough made another steal.

The Red Storm led 15-4 after the first quarter and 21-8 at halftime.

Then Jordan Agger heated up. The Thornton sophomore forward was held scoreless in the first half but got the ball down low in the second half and made Scarborough pay. She finished with 13 points, and helped draw the Trojans to within 33-28.

“The clock kind of ran out on us,” Thornton Coach Eric Marston said. “Don’t get me wrong. They’re a well-coached team and a championship quality team. There’s a reason they’re 8-0. But we’d love to have that first half back and put more emphasis on the inside game.”

After the pair of baskets by Briggs, Scarborough’s offense ran a stall to kill the clock. Mary Redmond, Taylor LeBorgne, Maria Philbrick and Briggs all hit free throws to rebuild the big lead in the final two minutes.

Briggs finished with 13 points and Redmond scored 10 to lead Scarborough.

Were any members of the Red Storm worried for a minute? Nah. They’re young and tough.

“I felt really confident in our team,” Redmond said. “It’s in-your-face defense, 100 percent effort. It’s pretty tiring. It’s worth it.”