After the Biddeford Tigers stunned Scarborough to get to the quarterfinals, Coach Mike Fecteau’s squad looked for a repeat performance against the third-ranked South Portland Red Riots on Saturday at the Portland Expo.

South Portland’s Keegan Hyland made sure that lightning didn’t strike twice.

Hyland, a sophomore guard, scored 30 points for the Riots, exploding for 20 in the second half to lead South Portland to a 66-48 victory over Biddeford, sending the Riots to the semifinals against No. 2 Thornton Academy at the Civic Center on Feb. 20 (the game was played after the Current’s deadline, for more on the game, see www.keepMEcurrent.com).

Hyland had six rebounds to go with his final point total. Nate Wright, a senior center, had eight points with an impressive 17 rebounds, and senior guard Will Furbush also finished with eight points.

For Biddeford, junior center Cameron Neumann had 17 points, eight rebounds and blocked three shots to lead the Tiger offense. Senior forward Dan Jamieson had 10 points and six rebounds, and junior point guard Abdi Mohamed had eight points, including two early three-pointers.

“I’m very happy with the way we played tonight,” said South Portland coach Phil Conley. “It’s the first playoff game for many of our guys, and we had a little bit of the jitters early, but I think we settled in during the second quarter, as well as the second half.”

Abdi Mohamed sparked Biddeford’s win over Scarborough with three three-pointers in the game. Starting out against South Portland, Mohamed still had a hot hand, as he immediately hit two threes in the first quarter to get Biddeford rolling. Six points and an assist from Hyland kept the Riots in the game early, as Biddeford went into the second quarter with a surprising one point lead, 15-14.

“Biddeford’s a very good team, and they’re well coached,” said Conley. “They beat the No. 6 team (Scarborough), I knew they’d be scrappy, and they were the whole game.”

Jamieson extended Biddeford’s lead to three to open the second quarter, but a three-pointer from Furbush tied the game. Two more threes from the Riots, both from sophomore guard Matt Lee, gave South Portland control of the scoreboard and momentum for the rest of the contest.

“It was very important to come out and make sure that we set the tone, and show that we wanted to play our game,” said Wright.

Coming out of halftime with a 31-23 lead, the Riots looked to have Wright control the rebounds and also to get the ball in Hyland’s hands with open shots. Hyland scored nine points in the third, including a big three-pointer near the end of the quarter. With 19 points already, Hyland was just warming up.

“At first, (Biddeford) shocked us with their defense, but we started to move the ball around, getting inside, getting outside,” said Hyland. “We hit some shots, and we started to pick up the intensity on defense.”

“I missed a few shots at the start, then I hit a pull-up jumper, and then they just kept going in, no matter where I was going to shoot it from. I didn’t feel like I played that great, for the most part. I missed a lot of easy shots,” continued Hyland.

Hyland hit another three-pointer to open the fourth quarter, setting off an “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chant from the Red Riot faithful.

“He was just tremendous, both on the drive and on outside shots,” said Conley.

When it was all said and done, Hyland’s 30 points gave the Riots a spot in the semifinals at the Civic Center, yet Hyland was convinced the team would have to play better to advance further.

“We didn’t play great defensively, but we played good enough. We’ve got to step it up for the next game,” said Hyland.

For Biddeford, this quarterfinal game was the biggest example of the remarkable turnaround the Tigers have had this season. A year ago, Biddeford’s record was 1-17, and making it as deep as they did in the playoffs was something few really expected.

“I’m just very happy for these guys. They played outstanding against Scarborough, they got themselves into this situation, being able to play in a great atmosphere here, and I’m sure they’ll remember this for the rest of their lives,” said Fecteau.

“Their goal was to make it to the tournament, and they got it done,” continued Fecteau. “They stepped up, and beat a good Scarborough team, and got themselves in a position to play the role of the spoiler. We just fell short tonight, and got beat by a better team. I think (returning players) have something to look forward to next year. They know what it takes.”

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