SACO – With just one starter over 6 feet tall and no one in the regular rotation standing over 6-foot-2, the Scarborough boys basketball team knows that in order to win games in a tough SMAA they’re going to have to play to their strengths – speed and shooting.
For last Friday night’s game against Thornton Academy, at least, it was mission accomplished.
The Red Storm shot out to a 10-0 lead, let the Golden Trojans back into the game in the middle quarters then ran away again in the fourth, outscoring Thornton 36-25 in the last 11 minutes of the game in a 81-74 barnburner in Saco. Scarborough’s first-year coach Tony DiBiase was happy was with the way his team, now 4-4, executed his up-tempo style to the tune of their highest point output so far this season.
“We know we have to shoot it well because our size is really is a problem,” he said. “We have to play all out on the perimeter and knock down shots and try to battle inside as well as we can. Thornton was physical and big but I thought the important thing was we got off to a real good start, kind of slumped in the middle and then toward the end fought back when we could have easily given the game away on the road. We fought back down the stretch and won.”
Scarborough made 13 shots from behind the 3-point stripe, including four apiece from Sam Terry and Dillon Russo, who led the team with 21 points.
Thornton (2-5) was led by Jeff Gelinas’ 21 and Adam Ek’s 15, but the Trojans couldn’t keep pace with the smaller but quicker Storm for the full 32 minutes.
“I think they shot the ball really well,” Trojans head coach Bob Davies said. “That was a really nice high school basketball game and they just shot the ball really well.”
The Storm were hot right out of the gate, with Terry and Russo threes, a Dan LeClair layup and another Terry jumper making it 10-0 just 2:33 in. After a timeout, Thornton regrouped and started to make shots of its own, but Scarborough kept pouring in the points on the other end to lead 25-16 after an up-and-down first quarter.
The Golden Trojans kept battling and came into their own in the second, using an 18-8 run to take a brief lead at 34-33 on a Kevin Barrett jumper with 2:30 to play in the half. But the advantage lasted all of a few seconds as Scarborough raced to the other end and Russo drilled a three, and the Red Storm closed the second on a 9-2 streak of their own to take a 42-36 lead into halftime.
But the momentum shifted again out of the break and Thornton again had the lead when Gelinas dropped in a three a few minutes into the third to make it 45-44. The Trojans built the advantage to 49-45 thanks to a Malcolm Dopwell put back and two Gelinas free throws, but that’s when Scarborough went on another run that would be the decider as Terry scored five quick points to get back the lead and the Storm closed the quarter on a 10-2 run for a 55-51 lead with eight to play.
Another Terry 3-point ball brought that advantage up to seven, and the lead hovered around 10-12 points for the most of the high-scoring fourth quarter as the Trojans couldn’t claw back in but refused to go away.
“We worked all night long, and that’s one thing we’ve been stressing to the kids is compete and I think our kids competed all night long,” Davies said. “Again they just shot the ball real well.”
Thornton did get within eight late, but it was too little, too late as Scarborough hung on for the hard-earned seven-point victory. DiBiase said he was pleased with the way his squad saw the last few minutes out.
“There was a couple of games this year we had won, and when the momentum shifted in the fourth quarter we didn’t make the big shoot or the big defensive play, and tonight we did,” DiBiase said. “And I think Thornton’s a pretty good team so I was happy with that.”
The win moves Scarborough back to the .500 for the first time since they were 1-1, and with the toughest portion of the schedule in the rear-view mirror, the Storm will be aiming for a favorable seeding come playoff time. Thornton, too, has some winnable games coming up, and the Trojans will need a good run of results in the next month before these two meet again on Feb. 5 Scarborough in the penultimate game of their schedules if that is to be a contest with deep playoff meaning.
Davies summed up where his team currently stands succinctly.
“We’re 2-5 right now,” Davies said. “That’s where we’re at.”
Thornton Academy guard Adam Ek looks for a way past Scarborough’s Dillon Russo in the first quarter. Ek scored 15 points in the Golden Trojans’ 81-74 defeat.
Scarborough guard Dillon Russo readies to go up for a layup in the second quarter of the Red Storm’s 81-74 victory over Thornton Academy. Staff photos by Cameron Dunbar
Thornton Academy guard Quinn Richardson-Newton drives past Scarborough’s Brendan Hall in the first quarter. Richardson-Newton scored eight points but the Golden Trojans fell to the Red Storm 81-74.
Scarborough guard Dillon Russo drives by Thornton Academy’s Kevin Barrett in the second quarter. Russo scored 21 points as the Red Storm defeated the Golden Trojans 81-74.
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