Too tall. Way too tall.

Fourth-ranked South Portland, with four players 6-foot-4 or better, including athletic 6-6 scorer Jack Fiorini, could simply throw over the top of fifth-seeded Sanford’s small-guard zones and dominate.

The Red Riots did just that Thursday night in the second quarter, and despite some inconsistencies the rest of the way rolled to a 62-44 victory in a Class AA South boys’ basketball quarterfinal at the Portland Expo.

“We were flowing. That was probably one of our best flows we had all year,” said Fiorini of the second quarter. “I think we’re just coming along and playing our best basketball in February.”

Fiorini led South Portland with 21 points. Burly 6-foot-4 center Jordin Jackson added 12 in the paint and the Red Riots had a huge 32-13 rebounding edge.

South Portland (10-9) will play top-ranked Thornton Academy at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Cross Insurance Arena. Thornton won the regular-season meeting 52-42 at South Portland.

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South Portland made 63.6 percent of its shots in the first half, including 4 of 8 from behind the arc (reserve guard Deandre White hit two straight) as it rolled to a 38-17 lead.

In the first quarter, Jackson powered down low for six quick points and Ruay Bol got the crowd going with a dunk as South Portland took a 15-8 lead.

Fiorini got the second-quarter 23-5 streak rolling with a 15-footer, a baseline 3-pointer and then a rolling hook.

“When they start four guys 6-4 or bigger, it’s a challenge,” Sanford Coach Paul Nolette said. “We thought maybe our zone would be able to pack things in and all of a sudden they shoot the ball probably better than they’ve shot it all year.”

Tye Laviolette scored a team-high 19 points, 14 in the second half for Sanford (6-13).

South Portland showed some of the inconsistency it has been plagued with this season when it began settling for outside shots and got careless with the basketball early in the third quarter. But its healthy lead was never truly threatened because the ball reached Fiorini often enough to keep the lead at least 17.

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That Sanford was the fifth seed speaks to the oddity of a division with only eight teams. That South Portland, with its size and four senior starters, went 9-9 begs for an explanation.

“There are a lot of factors,” Coach Kevin Millington said. “It’s my first year here so the transition has been a challenge. We thought we had the toughest schedule in the league. We played (Class AA North squads) Portland twice, Deering twice, Cheverus twice, Falmouth, Thornton, Massabesic.

“We’ve been feeling pretty good all along about ourselves but there is a lot of noise about the 9-9 record.”

If the Red Riots can continue to get inside scoring, make a third of their 3-point attempts and have a 2-to-1 assist margin – all things they accomplished against Sanford – then the noise will have a cheerier tone.

“We haven’t played up to our potential at all,” Fiorini said. “That’s quite disappointing. We’ve kind of let ourselves down.

“I think our fans and a lot of people around the state have written us off. We’re really coming together as a team. We’ve bought in and we’re just here to make a run now.”


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