The AA Round-Up: Another Weekend in the Books

Another 2-for-1 as I try to get the newsletter all caught up.

Thursday

Boys: Scarborough 57, Bonny Eagle 48 (2/OT)

How much disparity is there between the top and bottom seeds in AA South? This game gave us a fairly clear answer.

One that was tied at the beginning, middle, and end of regulation turned into a classic in Scarborough. The Scots led 13-10 after one, but were tied 16-16 at the half after scoring only 3 points in the second.

Scarborough took a 32-26 lead into the 4th quarter and it looked like they would close out a tight game with a 39-36 regulation win over the 2-11 Scots, but Colin Moran had other ideas. He nailed a left wing three to add an extra period.

Go to 1:08:52 to watch the chaos unfold after a missed Scarborough free throw.

Bonny Eagle's luck didn't run out after that. The Red Storm once again led by 3, this time with 3.0 seconds to play in overtime. It was Terrell Edwards' turn to save the Scots.

Skip to 1:21:35 to see a sweet half-court buzzer beater from the senior guard.

The momentum didn't carry over into the 2nd OT, and Scarborough scraped out 11 points to survive a a massive upset.

Boys: Portland 55, Windham 54

Let's go to the Expo, where the Bulldogs took a tight one over Windham.

Kevin Rugabirwa and Jeissy Khamis played like true veterans with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Khamis (14 rebounds) and company dominated the boards.

The Eagles got 18 points from Tyrie James and 12 from AJ Moody, but fell just short.

Portland picked up 30.11 heal points in the win, which simply pulls them further ahead of 4th place Lewiston in the North. They've got a shot at the 2 seed if they take care of business at home vs Lewiston (5-10) and Bangor (1-13) before they travel to Cheverus for their final game of the regular season.

That matchup only matters if Windham can rebound off this loss and beat the Stags in Cheverus tomorrow night.

Girls: Gorham 57, Thornton Academy 50

Make it 10 in a row for the Lady Rams.

A season high 19 points for Julia Reed, 14 from Ellie Gay, and 12 more from Kalin Curtis was exactly what Gorham needed to complete a regular season sweep of Thornton Academy.

Head Coach Laughn Berthiaume told the Portland Press Herald that the team is "finding consistency in a number of different spots," and he's absolutely correct.

Gay and Reed, Gorham's two leaders in 3P% (min. 20 attempts) combined for 6 threes. Kalin Curtis has become a force on the glass and scoring the ball down low, scoring all 6 of her buckets in the post.

Perhaps the most important part of it all is their defensive anchor, Summer Gammon. She's averaging 3.5 steals and bringing down 3.1 defensive rebounds a night, ending 6.6 defensive possessions per game with the ball in her hands.

Thornton Academy played one of their better games since they lost Kylie Lamson, but still only shot 33% from 3, which killed them.

The Trojans have Massabesic, Scarborough, and Bonny Eagle to end off their season. Winning out gives them a slight chance to overtake Sanford in the 4th seed if the Spartans can't get by South Portland at home.

Boys: Cheverus 49, Edward Little 46

Speaking of Cheverus: The upset alarms were sounding at halftime of this one because the Red Eddies led 26-17 at the break.

The lead grew to 12 (42-30) for Edward Little after 3 quarters, but it seems like Cheverus was never worried.

They used a 14-0 run to begin the 4th to take a lead they would never give up en route to their 13th victory of the year.

This is an excellent win for Cheverus. Only real contenders come back and make this type of game interesting, much less win it.

Girls: Bangor 49, Lewiston 44

Bangor has responded to their 3 game losing streak by winning 3 in a row, their most recent addition to the streak being a win over the Blue Devils.

Mimi Quinn poured in 19 the old-fashioned way: 8 2-pointers and 3 free throws, no threes.

Natalie Beaudoin paced Lewiston with 21.

To summarize AA North, the top 3 seeds (Cheverus, Bangor, Oxford Hills) are surging. All are on 3+ game win streaks. For 4 and 5, not so much. Lewiston and Edward Little are on 3+ game losing streaks. It's sort of becoming a 3 team race like the boys side has been all year.

Boys: Gorham 69, Thornton Academy 60

The Rams made another road game close, but ultimately handed the Trojans their 9th straight loss dating back to December 29th.

Ashton Leclerc returned to double figures with 21 points and 5 three pointers in his quest for 1,000 points (more on that later).

Caden Smith put up 17 to match his 17.6 PPG through 15 games.

Wyatt Benoit led Thornton in scoring for the 11th time this year, scoring 22 points.

Saturday

Boys: Gorham 69, Sanford 57

The Rams big 3 handled the brunt of the scoring to round off a 3-1 mid-season road trip.

Ashton Leclerc entered the night at 974 career points scored, and after a 23 point performance he sits at 997 before his senior night on Tuesday vs Bonny Eagle. If you want to watch him try to surpass four digits in total scoring, join me on NFHS. I'm calling that game in what might be my last home game for the Gorham boys.

Anyways, Gabe Michaud put up 19/3/2 and Caden Smith tailed him with 15 points.

Makai Bougie paced the Spartans with 20 points.

Boys: South Portland 70, Thornton Academy 62

A tale Trojan fans are probably getting sick of is the opposing team winning the three point battle.

Saturday was no different, the Red Riots outshot TA from distance 8-to-3. SoPo's Carmine Soucy matched Thornton's total in the first half.

Manny Hidalgo and Gabe Galarraga dominated the second half, finishing with 24 and 22 respectively.

With those contributions, South Portland was able to erase a 9 point halftime deficit and lead 51-46 after 3 quarters.

Galarraga took over in the 4th, helping put the Trojans away for good.

Benoit once again led the Trojans with 20 points.

Looking ahead

Two big matchups to look for Tuesday night:

Windham (13-2) travels to Cheverus (13-2) that could give the winner a bye straight to the Civic Center. Windham won the first game between the two, 67-62.

South Portland (6-8) visits Deering (6-8) in a matchup that could end up deciding who gets a home playoff quarterfinal. Deering took the first matchup 57-47 back in December.