The Deering High boys’ basketball team has yet to find a way recently to defeat Portland, its crosstown rival and the Class AA defending state champion.
Friday night, the Rams couldn’t take care of the ball – committing 23 turnovers in the 32-minute game – and suffered a 67-47 loss to the Bulldogs.
“You can’t beat good teams when you turn the ball over and don’t box out,” Deering Coach Todd Wing said. “It’s something we’ve got to practice a little bit more of, but we’ll be fine.
Griffin Foley led the Bulldogs (15-1), who committed 13 turnovers, with 18 points, including five 3-pointers.
“Griffin is a great student athlete,” Portland Coach Joe Russo said. “He likes it when the lights are bright. When the lights are bright, he comes through.”
The Bulldogs have ended Deering’s last three seasons. They beat the Rams 70-39 in last year’s Class AA North championship game, and in 2014 and ’15, won their matchups in the regional semifinals, 64-49 and 59-57. Deering also fell to the Bulldogs 63-44 on Jan. 17.
“With Deering, it’s a rivalry,” Foley said. “The energy is in the gym. We come ready and we always play our hearts out against them.”
Emmanuel Yugu of Portland scored on a layup in the first 10 seconds, and after Raffaele Salamone tied it, the Bulldogs scored seven unanswered points, capitalizing on turnovers. Yugu intercepted a pass and drove for a layup to cap the run.
“We rebounded and ran fast breaks really well,” Foley said of Portland’s first quarter. “We got open and we made our shots.”
That included Foley, who hit three 3-pointers to help the Bulldogs to a 22-13 lead after the first. He then opened the second quarter with another 3-pointer.
Manny Chikuta and Ben Onek nearly closed the gap for Deering (11-5) in the second quarter. Chikuta wove through defenders for two straight layups before Onek put back a rebound to cut Portland’s lead to 26-22.
“It’s a game of momentum and swings,” Wing said. “Those swings – we just couldn’t quite capitalize on them.”
The Bulldogs answered back with six unanswered points between Terion Moss and Charles Lyall. Clay Hardy scored four straight points for Portland at the end of the quarter – including a buzzer-beater – and the Bulldogs entered halftime up 36-26.
Following an Onek basket for Deering to kick off the third quarter, Moss and Yugu made 3-pointers to keep momentum with Portland. From there the Rams trailed by double digits for the rest of the game, and Portland ended the third quarter up 52-37.
Portland outrebounded Deering, 34-29. Yugu and Lyall led the Bulldogs with seven rebounds apiece.
Jean Claude Butera led Deering with 13 points.
The Bulldogs’ only loss was to Edward Little (15-1) on Dec. 22. Portland will finish its regular season with home games against South Portland on Monday and Cheverus on Wednesday.
Deering will host Scarborough on Tuesday before concluding its regular season at South Portland on Thursday.
“They outplayed us,” Wing said. “I think we need to find that switch we can turn on. Luckily we haven’t turned it on yet. It leaves room for improvement.”
Taylor Vortherms can be contacted at 791-6417 or
tvortherms@pressherald.com
Twitter: TaylorVortherms
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