PORTLAND – Despite a fiery, 25-point performance by senior Co-Captain Jackson Fotter – a performance that included four threes in the fourth alone – the No. 6 Rams simply could not come back against second-ranked Thornton Academy at the Cross Insurance Arena on Tuesday night. Gorham fell behind early, saw their deficit widen to 16 in the mid-third and succumbed in the long-run 56-49. 

“I thought, defensively, for the most part, we did a really good job the whole game,” said Gorham head coach Mark Karter of the semifinals bout. “Kind of kept the score where we wanted it to be; just, unfortunately, offensively, we put ourselves in too big of a hole to come back. We just didn’t get the parity in offense that we needed to stay competitive with a real good team.”

The Trojans owned the first quarter 12-2: Austin Boudreau began the scoring with a three, and teammates Dave Keohan, Avery Mckenzie and John Fogg followed him up. The Rams’ only strike belonged to Cam Wright. 

The second was a bit more even, though TA still outpaced Gorham 11-8. Jason Komulainen hashed a pair of frees for the Rams to start things off, but Thornton inched further ahead on a Fogg two and a Boudreau three before Gorham could connect again, this time on a Cam Holmes three. By the time the break arrived, the Trojans had jumped out front 23-10.

A number of factors cost Gorham on the attack: Their shots simply wouldn’t fall, for instance, and they committed far too many turnovers. Karter remarked on the impact of those giveaways. “It’s huge,” he said. “For us, we need every possession to be a quality possession, and we had just way too many unforced turnovers in the first half. Dug ourselves too big of a hole.”

Gorham mostly matched TA through the third, which ended at 30-16 and featured Fotter’s first four points. Yeah: Fotter’s complete output came in the downhill quarters. That is, Thornton held him entirely silent through the first 16 minutes, and he didn’t just get hot in the latter 16, he positively exploded. Went off. Stole the show like a face-melting guitar solo. That sort of thing.

Fotter hit his first three early in the fourth to make it 33-19; he hit his second shortly thereafter to make it 35-22. Logan Drouin then drained a three of his own to keep the Rams’ three-streak going, and Fotter followed him with two more threes, back-to-back. At 40-31, the bout looked like it might be – could it be? Within reach?

“[Thornton] did a good job on Jackson in the first half,” Karter said. “He really couldn’t get going there till later in the second half. He’s been our best player all year and it was nice to see him step up and play hard till the end. He made some big shots for us and got us back into it.”

Alas, the comeback was not to be. Fotter sank further twos, even completed a three-point play, and Holmes threw down another trio of threes as well. The Rams pulled close enough to TA to perhaps make them sweat – for example, at 47-41, smack in the middle of Fotter’s rampage – but Gorham couldn’t manage to overtake the Trojans. 56-49 the final.

In addition to Fotter’s 25, Holmes finished with 11. Komulainen added four, and Drouin, Wright and Andrew Brown three apiece. Gorham ends the year at 5-15.

Karter remarked on the season as a whole. “It’s been kind of a rollercoaster year. I liked how we competed tonight. We talked about playing with some pride and representing our school the right way. I thought we did that tonight.”

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter @CurrentSportsME.

Gorham’s Cam Wright conducts disarmament talks with a pair of Trojans.

Gorham’s Jackson Fotter went a little berserk on the Trojans after his team fell distantly behind in the semis on Tuesday night. Fotter hashed 25 points in roughly the last 12 minutes of the game.

Jason Komulainen sails toward the hoop for Gorham vs. TA.

TA’s John Fogg looms large over Gorham’s RJ St. Cyr, driving along the baseline.

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