STANDISH – C.J. Autry scored 22 points and Ben Malloy added 20 as Bonny Eagle rode hot 3-point shooting to improve to 3-0 with a 62-29 victory against Thornton Academy in a Western Class A schoolboy basketball game Friday night.

The Scots made 13 3-pointers, one shy of the school record set in 2007.

Autry hit five 3-pointers and Malloy had four. Dustin Cole added two 3-pointers and finished with 12 points and 11 assists.

Bonny Eagle, which graduated only one starter from last year’s Western Maine finalist, outscored Thornton 23-6 in the third quarter, matching its point total from the first half.

For the third straight game, Bonny Eagle was cold at the start, shooting 3 of 14 in the first quarter.

The Scots made amends in the second half.

Advertisement

“The kids have a lot of confidence in their shots,” said Coach Phil Bourassa. “There’s a certain select group that if they’re open they shoot the 3-pointer. It doesn’t matter if they’ve missed the last 10.

“We’ve started slowly shooting in every game. We’re going to have to figure that out.”

The Scots were aggressive, got most of the loose balls and outrebounded the taller Golden Trojans (1-2).

“We knew we had to pick up intensity in the second half,” said Cole, who was ill at halftime.

With Cole under the weather, the team’s other two scorers picked it up. Malloy, a sophomore, equaled his career best.

“C.J. and Ben had great games,” said Cole. “When they’re hitting their shots, it takes the pressure off me. We’re a small team so if we’re not hitting our shots, it’s going to be a long game. We have to scrap for every loose ball.”

Advertisement

Once the Scots settled down, the offense was fine.

“We’re starting to run through our offense more and it’s looking better,” said Cole.

The Scots led 9-8 after one quarter and 23-17 at halftime. Malloy scored the first five points of the third quarter. He hit three 3-pointers in the quarter and Autry, a 6-foot-2 senior, made two from beyond the arc. They combined for 21 of Bonny Eagle’s 23 points in the quarter.

“We wanted to get those two going and we did,” said Bourassa. “Ben has come so far.”

With the Scots leading 30-20, Malloy hit two 3-pointers around one by Autry midway through the third quarter to open a 19-point lead.

“It felt good,” Malloy said of his shooting. “The crowd was going crazy. We had good ball movement and we were attacking gaps in their zone.”

Advertisement

Thornton has been held under 30 points in each of its two losses.

“I thought we executed on offense and had our chances to score,” said Coach Bob Davies. “We missed a lot of easy shots.

“Bonny Eagle is a very good team. They shot the ball well. We had some good defensive possessions but then we didn’t rebound.”

Thornton’s only lead came after a Reuben Moses 3-pointer that made it 6-3. Malloy followed with his first 3-pointer to tie it.

It was tied 10-10 at the start of the second quarter before Bonny Eagle went on a 9-2 spurt to open some room.

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

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.