With only eight seconds left on the clock and his team down by two, Thornton Academy’s Jeff Winnie hit a game-winning three-pointer in front of the Westbrook faithful, giving the No. 2 Golden Trojans a 41-40 victory and keeping the No. 7 Blue Blazes from pulling off an incredible quarterfinal upset at the Portland Expo Saturday night.

Thornton was down by eight points midway through the fourth quarter, but was able to go on a fast 10-0 run to pull ahead by two points. Westbrook’s Dominic Borelli hit two clutch free throws to tie the game with less than two minutes remaining, and the intensity of the final 90 seconds demanded that both teams step up to determine who would playing under the lights of the Civic Center in the semifinals.

Thornton’s Dakota Greene hit two free throws with 1:22 left to give the Trojans a two-point lead. Westbrook’s Kyle Sanborn went to the foul line with 52.9 seconds remaining, made the first free throw, but missed the second, leaving the Blazes behind by one. But, Borelli got the rebound on Sanborn’s missed shot, keeping the ball in Westbrook’s hands.

The Blazes were able to drain the clock, waiting for the perfect time to strike. With the ball in Tyler Kelly’s hands, the time came with 19.8 seconds remaining, when Kelly got a pass off to Borelli, who hit the go-ahead shot and also drew a foul to get him to the free throw line, giving him a shot at a three-point play. After Borelli hit the free throw, Westbrook was up by two, but the ball was back in Thornton’s possession with more than enough time for some late-game heroics.

The Trojans brought the ball back in their end, and Winnie was set up in the corner of the floor, just beyond the three-point arc. James Morse was able to get the pass to Winnie, who turned and hit the game-winning shot with 8.4 seconds remaining in the game, getting nothing but net.

“I really wasn’t thinking anything when I shot the ball, I was just open, and took the shot,” said Winnie. “I knew what the situation was, but I wasn’t thinking about the game or anything like that. We just needed to score, and I got an open shot.”

Borelli was able to get one final shot off for the Blazes with four seconds left, but the ball hit the rim and time quickly expired, finishing off Westbrook’s season and sending the Trojans to the Civic Center for a semifinal showdown against South Portland.

“It was a great comeback, Westbrook played well tonight,” said Thornton Academy coach Bob Davies. “I was very impressed with our guys not giving up. They kept their composure, and kept playing basketball.”

Winnie finished with 10 points, five assists, and two steals for the Trojans. Senior center Kory Martin had 10 points, with six coming in the fourth quarter, and senior forward Austin Gregory had eight points off the bench.

For the Blazes, Borelli had 21 points and nine rebounds, with 17 of his points coming in the second half. Sanborn added 11 points, four rebounds, and two blocked shots.

“I thought we did everything we needed to do to win the game, and it just went down to a couple plays. They made a good play at the end of the game to win it,” said Westbrook coach Mark Karter. “I thought we had the tempo where we wanted it, but we had about a minute stretch where we had a couple turnovers in a row, and that allowed them to get back in the game. I thought that was the turning point. At that point, I thought we could have either rolled over, or we could fight back, and I thought our kids did a great job of fighting back.”

As fast and furious as the climax was, the start of the game was the exact opposite. By the end of a mostly uneventful first quarter, Thornton was ahead, but the score was only 8-4.

Gregory scored two quick baskets for the Trojans at the start of the second quarter to pull Thornton ahead by eight, and Westbrook was forced to call a timeout, stopping Thornton’s momentum. Coming out of the break, Westbrook scored six of the next eight points to again make it a four point game.

A three-pointer from Winnie moved Thornton’s lead up to seven, but the Blazes scored the final six points of the first half, including a big three-pointer to match Winnie’s by Christian Hamilton. The Trojans went into halftime with the lead, yet the score was only 17-16.

“We needed the game to be in the 30’s or 40’s to win,” said Karter. “If the game was in the 60’s or 70’s, we had no chance. So we had it where we wanted it.”

“(Westbrook) had a great game plan going in to at least hold the game down,” said Davies. “They’re well-coached, they’re fundamentally sound, and they made it very difficult for us. They’re a good basketball team, and their plan worked.”

Westbrook opened the second half on a 9-0 run, going up 25-17 halfway through the third quarter. Borelli had five points during the run, and the Blazes used their size to get key rebounds and timely blocks, keeping Thornton temporarily at bay.

“They’re an awful big team, and it worked to their advantage,” said Davies. “They’re big, they’re physical, and I think four of them are all 6’4″, that’s a big team. It helps having size.”

A three-point shot from Thornton’s Michael Guerin, a junior guard, snapped Westbrook’s run and woke up the Trojan faithful. Even after the shot, Borelli was still hitting his shots, and when the third quarter buzzer sounded, the Blazes took a 28-24 lead into the final quarter.

After being down by eight in the second quarter, Westbrook turned the tables on Thornton at the start of the fourth, taking their own eight-point lead after a basket by Sanborn and two free throws from Borelli gave the Blazes a 32-24 lead.

“Give credit to the kids, they played hard, they picked up the pressure, and they never gave up,” said Davies. “They played hard against a pretty good team.”

A halfcourt steal from Winnie that resulted in an easy layup was proof that the Trojans weren’t finished. A long inbounds pass from Josh Harriman to Borelli that resulted in two points negated Winnie’s layup, but the spark for Thornton was still alive.

“We had a little huddle on the court, and talked about how we just needed to play solid defense, really hustle, and in those last three minutes, we just played our hearts out,” said Winnie.

A three-point play from Martin got the run going, and on Thornton’s next possession, Morse hit a shot on an assist from Greene. Greene followed the assist with a steal on Westbrook’s in-bounds pass under Thornton’s basket for an easy layup. Martin had another three-point play to finish off Thornton’s fast 10-0 run, giving the Trojans a two point lead, and set the table for an intense two minutes of fourth quarter playoff basketball.

“The kids played great, and we couldn’t be more proud of them. Unfortunately, we came up on the wrong side,” said Karter.