SACO — A third quarter surge would help propel the visiting Windham boys basketball team to a 52-46 win over Thornton Academy on Friday night, handing the Trojans their first loss of the season.

Tied 27-27 at the half, the Eagles came out hot in the third and would outpace the Trojans 16-4 in the period to take the 12-point lead heading into the fourth.

“I thought we did a pretty good job overall … in the third quarter we had some breakdowns and gave them some separation,” said TA coach Bob Davies after the loss.

TA jumped out to a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter and would stay within six points in the final two minutes. Payton Jones and Anthony Bracamonte would come up with 3-pointers in the final two minutes to pressure the Eagles, however, Windham made key shots and free throws down the stretch to hold off the Trojan attack.

The Eagles showed off their impressive shooting in the win, especially Mike Gilman, who hit five of their six 3-pointers and had a game-high 18 points overall.

“Well they got a couple of putbacks. First, second, fourth quarter we did a pretty good job on the glass but in the third quarter we gave up a few offensive putbacks. We gambled a few times in transition and their guys hit threes. You can’t really gamble with these guys because they can shoot,” said Davies.

Gilman would hit two of his 3-pointers in the first quarter to lead Windham to a 12-9 lead after one. TA would come back in the second quarter and trade shots throughout the period. Bracamonte would score nine points in the quarter including hitting a shot with just four seconds left in the half to tie things at 27-27.

Bracamonte led TA with 14 points, while C.J. LaBreck added 11. Will Mitchell and Jones also added seven points each.

Davies was impressed with Windham’s performance, as well as its maturity and experience as a club.

“That’s a good team, a well-coached team … it’s not a young team. They’ve been together for a few years and they play hard. That was a good high school basketball game,” said Davies.

TA drops to 4-1 on the year and will travel to Bangor today. The Trojans have been battling some injuries as of late, and Davies has been pleased with the effort his players have shown stepping into their roles this season.

“We’re playing hard and we’re getting better every day,” said Davies. “We executed down the stretch but missed some open shots.”

— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.