Playing in front of a standing- room-only crowd of more than 1,500, Portland built an early 16-point lead, then survived a late-game rally to pull out a 61-51 victory against previously unbeaten Deering in a Class AA North boys’ basketball game Thursday night.
Amir Moss scored 24 points as the Bulldogs recovered from Friday night’s 58-55 loss to Gorham to raise their record to 9-1.
“The key to (this) game was the teamwork,” Portland Coach Joe Russo said. “We played solid team defense, kind of keeping them out of the scoring areas.
“Everybody came up with some nice plays. It was a solid team effort.”
This was the fewest points scored this season by the Rams, who were averaging more than 70 points per game.
“We had to play defense as a team and rebound,” Moss said. “We had to keep them from scoring inside the paint because that’s what they like to do.”
The Bulldogs hit four consecutive 3-pointers in the first quarter to open an 18-8 lead. After the Rams (10-1) closed within seven points in the second quarter, Portland finished the half with an 8-4 run to move into a 36-22 lead.
“They made their early run that we just couldn’t quite overcome,” Deering Coach Todd Wing said. “We made a couple of mini-runs. For whatever reason, every time momentum was favoring us, we couldn’t keep it going.”
Griffin Foley scored 13 points for the Bulldogs. Terion Moss, a sophomore point guard, followed with 11.
“Everybody stepped up on the court,” Russo said. “They knew their positions. They were assertive with the ball. They shared the ball. It was a team effort.”
Anthony Lobor, a senior forward, led Deering with 17 points. Raffaele Salamone and Ben Williams each added 10.
The Rams made another run after the Bulldogs opened a 47-29 lead less than four minutes into the second half.
Deering ended the third quarter with an 8-0 run to cut that lead to 10 points. It managed to close within 52-46 with less than three minutes left.
“The lead could have easily gone to 30 points,” Wing said, “but we got it back to six. It just shows the team doesn’t lack heart. As the coach going forward, we can fix things, but you can’t fix heart. This is a group of character guys that wants to win and is dedicated to winning, and they’re going to get there.”
Both teams seem to feed off the boisterous crowd.
“I’ve been here for eight years and this is the largest crowd I’ve seen here in all those years,” Wing said.
“This environment was great for both teams,” Russo said. “They kids deserve it. Both teams are doing well and it’s really nice to see them rewarded by a big crowd.”
“It’s great for the city because both teams are doing well, so it’s a great game to come and watch,” Amir Moss said.
“It was just like tournament play, so it’s good for us to get this early look at it.”
Wing didn’t appeared disheartened by the Rams’ first defeat.
“Our goal wasn’t to be undefeated,” he said. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry, and we’ll know who we are more so after this loss.”
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