BIDDEFORD — Monday night was better than all right for the fight at Biddeford High School against Thornton Academy in boys basketball. The Tigers took off to an early 29-15  lead before the end of the first half, but the Trojans saved their strength for the third  and fourth period when they cleaned up on a 26 point run.

Coming down off the big lead was difficult for the Tigers, but their commendable pursuit had them only trailing by 11 in the final score, 61-50. Biddeford demonstrated fortitude and took the loss well despite the closeness of the game.

Biddeford’s Camden Saucier said, “I feel like we played three really good quarters of basketball but in that third quarter we just broke down mentally and physically and next time we’re going to play a full game of basketball.”

TA coach Robert Davies viewed the game with a long-term perspective as a building tool for the future. Davies said, “We got outperformed in the first half, but we came out. We had a very good third quarter. As a unit defensively in the third quarter we played a lot better defense and rebounded the basketball a lot better. We look at film all the time and we always try to get better, that’s what we want to do. We want to get better everyday. These are high school kids and we want to become better as a team every single day and try to make the playoffs and from there get as far as we can go.”

In the last half, clear communication was a visible strength of Thornton’s. Players were talking to each other, making clean plays and looked to coaches constantly for direction and support. 

Davies said, “Everybody needs to be on the same page and the kids in there, that’s what they want. We want to be on the same page and we want to be successful.”

Thornton Academy’s Director of Athletics and Student Activities Gary Stevens returned from a middle school game to see the turnover like a good luck charm. 

Stevens said, “I arrived just after halftime and we were down 34-26 when we got here and I think we scored 26 points in a row when we got in the door. What I saw on that run was us dominating the defensive boards and then we were getting the ball out and transitioning and get some easy baskets. That’s the key in basketball, I coached basketball for 14 years and you cannot win unless you get some easy baskets. We found a way. Dominating the boards, running the floor, and getting the ball to people in their spots. That run gave us that nice cushion which held out toward the end.” 

Biddeford visits Cape Elizabeth today at 7 p.m. Thornton Academy will visit Sanford today at 7 p.m