The Portland Bulldogs knew they weren’t going to shut down Keegan Hyland. They just wanted to contain the South Portland High standout, who lit them up for 39 points eight days earlier.
Using a rotation of small, quick guards to shadow Hyland everywhere he went on offense, along with plenty of help defense whenever he looked to shoot or drive, Portland limited Hyland to 18 points – only four in the second half – as the No. 6 Bulldogs avenged two regular-season losses to the No. 3 Red Riots, knocking them off 72-49 in Saturday night’s Western Maine Class A quarterfinal game before a packed house at the Portland Expo.
Last Friday night, Hyland and the Riots defeated Portland 56-51 in the regular-season finale at the Expo, Portland’s home court. Among Hyland’s 39 points was the 1,000th of his career. The SMAA’s leading scorer the past two seasons, Hyland is only a junior. He averaged nearly 28 points a game during the regular season.
“On the defensive end, we wanted to contain Hyland, who’s a really awesome player,” said Portland coach Joe Russo. “We had to do it with two men on him, sometimes three. We didn’t want to foul him. The first two games we fouled him a lot. The idea was to make him earn his shots versus putting him on the foul line. The kids were outstanding getting pressure on him.”
South Portland (14-5) actually led at halftime, 31-26, and trailed by only two, 41-39, entering the fourth quarter. Portland (13-6) made 21 of 23 foul shots in the fourth quarter to pull away. South Portland made only three of eight free throws in the fourth and finished 10 of 28 from the line.
“In the second half, they hit some shots and we didn’t,” said South Portland coach Phil Conley. “Also, a big factor in tonight’s game was that we missed quite a few foul shots. That didn’t help us.”
South Portland led 15-12 after the first quarter, as Hyland scored seven points. Portland’s 6’6″ senior center Ed Bogdanovich scored eight points in the opening quarter. He sat most of the second quarter with foul trouble and didn’t score again until the fourth. He finished with 13.
Midway through the second quarter, Hyland and Spencer Bowring made back-to-back 3-pointers to counter a 3 by Portland’s Koang Thok (19 points). South Portland led 22-20 with four minutes to go. Greg Reinhold’s putback just before the half put the Riots up by five entering the break.
Walter Stover, Portland’s junior guard, took over in the third quarter. He scored 13 of his team’s 15 points in the quarter. He scored off a pass from James Ek with 1:08 left in the third to put the Bulldogs up two entering the fourth.
A minute into the fourth, Bogdanovich, playing with four fouls, scored and was fouled. He made the free throw to give Portland a 46-39 lead. It was also the fifth foul for South Portland’s Ryan Curit. Though only 6’2″, Curit is one of the Riots’ best post defenders and rebounders.
A 3 by South Portland’s Jon DiBiase with 6:12 left got the Riots within six at 48-42, but they’d get no closer as Portland paraded to the foul line over the remainder of the game and the Riots missed shots. Hyland managed only one point in the fourth quarter.
“Keegan was double- and triple-teamed a lot tonight, but he also gave the ball up and if we hit a couple of those shots, it might have been a different fourth period,” Conley said.
Portland freshman point guard Will Defanti, who gives up over half a foot to the 6’4″ Hyland, was assigned to blanket the Riots’ star for much of the game (Charlie Ho and Campbell Rico spelled Defanti for stretches). Defanti didn’t score a point, but pestered Hyland. He face guarded him everywhere he went, even when the ball was across the court. Though Defanti picked up a couple fouls away from the ball for holding Hyland (and got away with some others), Russo loved the youngster’s effort.
“He’s extremely coachable, extremely passionate,” Russo said. “He loves basketball. I knew that if I said to him, ‘Don’t leave him,’ he wouldn’t. Sometimes he was too close to him. I think I saw him in one of their huddles at one point.”
Stover scored a game-high 20 points. Ek added 10.
Bowring had seven for South Portland. Curit, DiBiase and Connor Hasson all chipped in with five for the Riots, who don’t have a senior on their roster.
“This is a bonus year for them,” Russo said. “They’re all juniors. They’ve gained a lot of experience. They’re fun to watch. They’re going to be the most exciting team next year.”
While the Riots weren’t planning to wait until next year, Conley said it’s tough to have regrets from this season.
“The guys in the locker room are obviously hurting tonight after this game, but in another week when we look back, finishing the season 14-4 with all juniors and sophomores, and also losing our No. 2 leading scorer with six games left in the season (Matt Lee, who suffered a knee injury), I think we can look back and see some positives,” Conley said. “I can definitely see some positives. We have everybody coming back and I know the kids in that locker room are going to work really hard this summer, and we’ll be back.”
Portland moved on to face No. 2 Westbrook on Wednesday in the semifinals at the Cumberland County Civic Center in a game played after the Current’s deadline. Westbrook defeated No. 7 Windham 58-42 in Saturday’s quarterfinal.
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