Obviously the job at hand for top-ranked Gorham was to take care of business and dispatch fifth-seeded Bonny Eagle in their Class AA South girls’ basketball semifinal Tuesday at the Cross Insurance Arena.

But there was one more thing: Get standout junior Emily Esposito to the 1,000-point career mark.

Both were accomplished. Unbeaten Gorham’s 60-28 win was already well in hand when Esposito scored her 19th point of the game and 1,000th of her career midway through the third quarter.

Seconds later Esposito was called for a foul, allowing the milestone to be announced with 4:02 left in the quarter. In lieu of rushing the court (and possibly drawing a technical foul) Gorham’s reserves raised small, handmade “1,000” signs attached to wooden sticks.

“It’s special to me,” said Esposito, a 5-foot-10 guard who has received multiple Division I scholarship offers. “I didn’t really think it would happen this year. But I think it’s more special because the girls I scored it with I’ve been playing basketball with since I was so young.

“And also, I remember playing freshman year and seeing the Allie Clements and the Nina Davenports and all those big players scoring their 1,000th point and I knew I wanted to be like them. And then the crowd and the support that we have as a team is overwhelming. I got the chills when they all stood up.”

Esposito scored once more, stroking a smooth baseline jumper to finish with 21 points, then spent the final 10:17 watching the Rams’ reserves run the court with Bonny Eagle (9-11).

“We were obviously all counting down a little bit and cheering her on but the main focus was just to get the ‘W'” Gorham point guard Kaylea Lundin said. “Going into the next two games it’s good not to have two focuses.”

Gorham (19-0) will play third-seeded South Portland (17-3) in the regional final Friday at the CIA. In the regular season, Gorham won at South Portland 40-38 in a game Esposito missed with a wrist injury.

“We just need to play our game,” Esposito said. “We have such a diverse team and everyone can score. If we go into the game with everyone having an open mind that this is their game to step up, I think we can go pretty far. And it’s tough to shut down five players.”

Kirsten Curley’s three 3-pointers in the first half and another 3-pointer from backup center Michelle Rowe helped offset 6-foot-2 freshman center Mackenzie Holmes being on the bench early with two fouls and no points. Esposito had 11 points in the first half.

Holmes came out strong in the second half, scoring twice on post-up moves. Curley hit her fourth 3-pointer before Esposito scored the eight quick points to reach 1,000.

Bonny Eagle had beaten fourth-seeded Thornton Academy in overtime but couldn’t keep pace with a stronger offense, scoring two points in the second quarter and three in the third.

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