Bonny Eagle looked a little sleepy in the early going against Sanford Monday morning. Until, that is, Dustin Cole and Nick Dubay combined with Ben Malloy to prod their team to wakefulness, then collaborated with Jon Woods to secure the lead for good.

And of course, once Cole gets going, five opposition players are hardly enough to stop him; ultimately he notched 33, fully 50 percent of the Scots’ offense, in their 66-49 quarterfinals victory over the Spartans.

Third-seed Bonny Eagle, now 18-1, advances to Wednesday evening’s 6 p.m. A West semifinal (after this week’s deadline), where they will meet No. 2 Falmouth. Sanford finishes the year 13-7.

“We got them in the gym at 7 a.m., had a little shoot-around,” Bonny Eagle head coach Phil Bourassa said of his efforts to juice his team for an unusually early game. “Brought a bunch of food in, gave ’em a chance to eat, got on the bus and hoped that they were ready.”

The game, played at the Portland Expo, unfolded quite similarly to the teams’ first meeting of the year, back on Dec. 13. In both bouts, Bonny Eagle struggled early on to find their rhythm, giving Sanford a chance to seize the quick lead. In both bouts, they finally snapped to and eventually pulled away, winning by approximately the same margin. And in both bouts, Cole proved a decisive offensive force.

The Spartans stood on top 11-7 as the first quarter drew to a close Monday morning, thanks largely to the buckets of John Morgan. With just seconds left, and in possession of the ball, however, Cole dashed in from the perimeter and dished wide to Dubay; Dubay missed his three-point attempt, but a leaping Malloy caught the rebound mid-air beneath the basket, dropping it in for a buzzer-beating two. 11-9.

Was Bonny Eagle waking up? Maybe stirring.

“We’ve had nine days off since our last game,” Cole said of the Scots’ drowsy beginning. “We expected to come out to a slow start, but we came out of it and played well.

Morgan opened the second quarter with another two for Sanford, before Malloy drew a deflating offensive rebound. But Dubay then splashed down a three; it was the Scots’ first three of the game, and for a team that so often pops threes like bubblewrap, the shot surely satisfied. It felt hugely invigorating, as their fan contingent went wild.

“Sometimes, with this group, one guy can just take the lid off it and it’ll happen quickly. He took a big charge, Dubay did, and then hit that three – or it might’ve been the other way around. He really sparked us; he had a great game. He’s played well all year,” Bourassa said.

They weren’t out of the woods yet, though. Josh Schroder hashed a two to keep the Spartans ahead, 15-12 – but Cole answered immediately with a pair of twos of his own, stealing Bonny Eagle’s first lead of the meeting. Dubay added another two and, yes, the Scots were coming alive.

Cole pinned the turnaround to better execution.

“We started hitting shots when we started running the floor, and getting rebounds,” he said. “We knew we had to crash the boards, and get all the rebounds.”

Schroder added two more and one from the line to tie it up again, but Cole followed up with a shovel to Dubay; as at the end of the first, Dubay’s three failed to fall this time, too. Luckily, skillfully, Jon Woods snatched up the rebound and dropped it home, much like Malloy did earlier.

From there, the Scots just built and built.

“They did a really good job battling,” Bourassa said. “And some of the shots we normally make didn’t go in. They did a lot of different things on the offensive glass; they boxed out really well. That kind of pushed us into the lead.”

It helped them that John Morgan got into early foul trouble and had to check out for a long stretch in the first half.

Assigned to hound Morgan, Woods held him to 13. “[Woods] can slow down John, for sure, no question,” Cole said of his teammate. “He always hustles and plays great defense.”

“Jon played a great game tonight,” Bourassa said. “He played so hard. For normally a guard, his whole life, we’re asking him to defend bigs, and he’s done a great job with that.”

With Morgan off the floor, Sanford’s offensive responsibilities fell to Nolette, Schroder and Jordan Tranchemontagne. The boys performed admirably, but simply could not keep pace. Bonny Eagle bombarded the Spartans’ net, going on a 17-2 run leading into the half. By the buzzer, they’d amassed a 35-20 advantage.

Nolette logged two threes and one two in the third quarter, adding eight points; in those eight minutes, the Spartans hashed 14 total – the Scots earned just 12 in the same timeframe. And in the fourth, Tranchemontagne turned an especially agile maneuver when he patiently delayed shooting in midair to avoid a flying Cole block, then notched two more on his way back to the floor.

In the fourth, however, Bonny Eagle inched still further ahead, tallying 19 to Sanford’s 15 for a 66-49 final and a shot at Falmouth. The two teams have not faced off this year.

In a rough, foul-heavy game, Cole and Woods both spent a fair amount of time getting up off the floor. “[They hit the floor] too many times for my liking,” Bourassa said. “But that’s just how they are; they’re fearless players.”

“The kids that play that hard, it’s fun to watch.”

Dubay added 10 for the Scots, Woods 11; Nate Alexander earned seven, and Malloy four. Schroder tallied 10 for the Spartans, Tranchemontange eight.

Sanford’s Evyn Nolette drives around Bonny Eagle’s Dustin Cole. Nolette knocked down 12 Monday morning, but the Spartans couldn’t keep pace with the Scots, falling 66-49.Sanford’s John Allen sets himself up ahead of the play Monday morning.Spartan Chase Roberts-Smith on the attack, Bonny Eagle’s Zach Dubiel defending.Bonny Eagle’s Nate Alexander sidles upcourt during a break in Monday morning’s action against Sanford.Jon Woods breaks out with the ball for Bonny Eagle against Sanford.Scot Dustin Cole makes for the basket. Cole had 33 in Bonny Eagle’s win over Sanford Monday morning.Cole to Malloy for a buzzer-beater to end the half.

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