SACO — Laughn Berthiaume wasn’t about to call his team’s play of late perfect.

But the Gorham girls’ basketball coach acknowledged that things are coming together for the rolling Rams.

Thursday night provided another example, as Julia Reed’s 19 points – along with 14 from Ellie Gay and 12 from Kalin Curtis – led the Rams to a 57-50 victory over Thornton Academy, their ninth straight win.

“I think we’re finding consistency in a number of different spots,” said Berthiaume, whose team sits atop Class AA South at 11-2. “I like the makeup of the team, I think we’re well-rounded and we’re starting to come into our own. There’s always room for improvement, but I like where we’re at.”

The Trojans (7-6) narrowed an 11-point deficit to three in the third quarter, but still suffered their fifth loss in six games. Emma Lizotte had 18 points and Addisen Sulikowski added 12 for Thornton, but the Trojans – without point guard Kylie Lamson for another two weeks due to a sprained ankle – struggled often to bring the ball up against the Gorham press. Thornton was hard-pressed to find consistent scoring when the Rams would collapse on Lizotte in the paint.

“Moving Addie (to point guard) did help us, she kind of composed that piece of things,” Thornton Coach Suzanne Rondeau said. “But they kind of got a lead, played disciplined basketball and took good shots. … They’re senior-led, well-balanced. I think they’re the best balanced team in the league.”

Thornton led 11-9 after one quarter but fell behind for good when Gorham began the second with a 14-2 run. Reed had eight points in the second quarter, but saved her biggest shots for the second half.

After Thornton trimmed the deficit to 37-34 on a Hannah Kenniston layup, Reed hit a spinning shot and drew a foul in the final two seconds of the third to push the lead back to six.

Reed sank a free throw, Vanessa Walker hit a 3 and Summer Gammon drove for a basket to make it 46-36 early in the fourth. After Lizotte answered with a basket, Reed knocked down a 3-pointer on the next possession to make it 49-38 with 4:50 to go.

“They’ve always been a team that’s been a really big game for us,” Reed said. “I think we have a lot of big games coming up, so that one gives us a lot of confidence moving forward.”

Reed, along with Gammon (eight points, four steals) and Gay, also led an effective Gorham defense that pressured the Trojans and prevented them from finding a consistent rhythm.

“That was definitely what our coach told us going into it,” Reed said. “Put a lot of pressure on them bringing it up, don’t make anything easy.”

The Rams also got a big performance inside from Curtis, who had a tough offensive and defensive draw in Lizotte – who plans to play at Quinnipiac next year – but held her own.

“I just told myself that I can’t fear anybody, and I have to be super aggressive like I always am,” she said. “I just pushed myself to not worry about being blocked, and (have) absolutely no fear.”

That confidence has carried over to a team that seems to be hitting its stride at the right time.

“It took us a while to get into our momentum,” Curtis said. “But once we got there, we’ve been thriving as a team.”

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