It was a case of good news and bad news for the Gorham Rams as they opened the basketball season Dec. 7 at Windham. The girls came from behind to beat the Eagles 55-44 while the Gorham boys lost a heartbreaker 56-54 on a overtime buzzer beater.

As the girls game began, it appeared that Windham was headed for a win over the visiting Rams. The Eagles opened an 8-0 lead before Gorham’s Rachele Burns got the Rams’ first points of the game on a free throw with 4:41 left in the first quarter.

Burns, who scored a game-high 33 points, then cut the lead to five with a nice turnaround 40 seconds later, but Windham’s Helen Libby, who was the high scorer for the Eagles with 11 points, hit a driving lay-in to keep the Eagles’ lead at seven.

As the two teams battled back and forth, it was Burns who once again proved to be trouble for the Eagles as she cut the Windham lead to 10-8 with one minute left. Burns stole the ball and drove for a lay-up to cut the lead to two.

Both teams struggled to hit shots in the first half, and with six minutes to go in the second, the score stood at 14-8 after Libby hit two free throws. Libby then extended the lead to 17-8 about a minute later with a big three-pointer.

The teams went into the halftime break with Windham in the lead 24-20.

Gorham took its first lead of the game with 6:30 left in the third when Burns, who came up big all night, hit a three to put the Rams in front 26-24. Once they took the lead, the Rams stepped up the hustle and with just under two minutes to go in the quarter, the Rams were up 35-28.

But the Eagles were not about to give up, and thanks to big efforts from Jenna Willey, Kelsey McGowan and Riley Graves, the Eagles cut the Rams’ lead to 37-33 at the end of the third.

However, that was as close as the Eagles got. The Rams, behind Burns, Lindsay Hansen, Athena Beaulieu and Kristi Zarrilli pulled away and won the game 55-44.

The Rams (1-0) were scheduled to face Deering at home on Dec. 14 while the Eagles traveled to Deering on Tuesday.

Boys basketball

After the girls’ game ended, the Windham and Gorham boys took to the floor for their season opener.

Both teams traded leads in the first quarter of the fast-paced game and with 5:18 to go in the second quarter, the game was tied at 18. Windham got into some foul trouble early, as sophomore forward Jackson Taylor picked up his third foul with just over four minutes to go. The foul was a blow to the Eagles, as it forced Taylor, who had been playing a strong first half, out of the game.

As the first half drew to a close, Windham’s Ryan MacQuestion drove through the lane and hit a running lay-up to cut Gorham’s lead to 26-22.

The game stayed close in the third quarter, and Windham had even retaken the lead when Gorham’s Isaac Pease came up with a big steal with just over three minutes left. Pease dished the ball to Mike Foutoukos, who was fouled as he was shooting. Foutoukos hit both free throws to give Gorham a 33-32 lead.

Taylor reentered the game for the Eagles and made an immediate impact, as he hit a big hoop to give the lead back to the Eagles 34-33 with three minutes left in the third.

The Rams’ Andrew Arena hit several big shots late in the third to help the Rams pull out to a 41-36 lead, and as the quarter ended, the Rams were on top 44-38.

The two teams slowed down the pace in the fourth, and the Eagles chipped away at the lead until the Eagles’ Jon Sangillo hit a three to tie the game at 49 with 2:10 left.

After trading points, the game remained tied at 52 at the end of regulation.

With the Windham fans making as much noise as they could, the two teams squared off in a defensive battle in overtime, as it took over half the extra period for either team to score.

Gorham took the lead with 1:50 left when Pease hit two free throws. Windham tied the game up a minute later when Travis Guerrette buried a shot from the top of the key.

That shot set up the exciting finish.

With 24 seconds left, Windham came up with a big steal, and after a time out, brought the ball up the court for one last shot. After a Windham pass was knocked out of bounds by the Rams, the Eagles had 3.9 seconds left to win the game.

Nick Taylor inbounded the ball for the Eagles, he found Guerrette in the lane, and Guerrette hit a fallaway at the buzzer to win the game for the Eagles 56-54 and set off a mob scene at midcourt.