Tenacious defense and a 26-point night from senior guard Andrew Arena propelled the Gorham High boys basketball team to a 62-30 win over Bonny Eagle on Tuesday evening.
The host Rams made the Scots’ road trip a miserable one especially in the second half, when Bonny Eagle was limited to just seven points. And while Gorham was frustrating Bonny Eagle’s offense, Arena was knocking home six three-pointers en route to his game-high scoring total.
“I thought we matched up well on the perimeter with their shooters and they had a difficult time with our zone,” said Gorham coach Kevin Jenkins while adding kudos for his senior center. “Michael Foustoukos in the middle – he’s a very, very good defensive player. He cleans up all those rebounds and he blocked a bunch of shots.”
“Defense is something that we pride ourselves on. When we’re able to play it like we want to, it works out well,” said Andrew Arena of Gorham.
Gorham (2-6) came out playing very well at both ends of the floor and they grabbed a 16-8 lead after one period. They added to that advantage for a 33-23 lead going into halftime. It would have been a bigger lead for the Rams had Bonny Eagle’s John Onesti not hit a fall away three-pointer as time expired.
Bonny Eagle (4-4) had hoped that shot by Onesti might provide some momentum as the third quarter began, but Gorham’s defense limited the Scots to just two points in the period as the teams went to the fourth quarter with the Rams leading 44-25. Gorham turned away several Bonny Eagle scoring chances and the attempts the Scots did have simply did not drop.
“The start of the third quarter was critical. If we come out and score the first two or three baskets, they (Gorham) have to stop and think,” said Bonny Eagle coach Rick Simonds about his squad’s performance. “Any time you play this game you have to put the ball in the basket. We didn’t shoot the ball well to begin with. And then you start to press little bit and force things.”
It was more of the same in the final period as Gorham opened a 53-25 lead with baskets from Foustoukos, Arena and Jon Day, who also had a fine all-around game.
Wade Severance had a basket for Bonny Eagle and the Scots added free throws from Lincoln Sanborn and Jake Spiller to complete their scoring.
“I don’t think a (Bonny Eagle) player played well. I don’t think there was any aspect of the game that we did well,” said Simonds. “And going into this game we realize the fact that Gorham’s a much better team than their record indicates and that will be proven when it’s all said and done.”
“We’ve had so many close games it’s crazy,” said Jenkins. “We lost three games in overtime to pretty good teams. We lost to Deering by three. We’ve played some reasonable basketball, but we haven’t been able to finish games out.”
Gorham’s now won two straight games to improve their record to 2-6 and they head into the second half of the season with a little momentum and plenty of confidence.
“The offensive stuff is coming as it always does, but our defense has been pretty good all year and it was particularly good tonight,” Jenkins noted.
“It feels like everything is starting to come together now,” said Arena.
Arena led the way with 26 points followed by Foustoukos with 14 and Day with eight.
Bonny Eagle’s top scorers were John Onesti with 10 and Brian Butler with nine.
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