Deering took out seven years of pent-up frustration on Thursday night, racing to a 16-3 lead over rival Portland after one quarter and never looking back en route to an emphatic 64-40 victory in front of a raucous home crowd.

Max Morrione had 21 points, Ben Onek added 20 and Darryl Germain had 15 as the Rams beat the Bulldogs for the first time in exactly seven years, snapping a 14-game losing streak in the series. Deering also wrapped up its strong regular season at 12-6.

“We came out and played as a team, played good team defense and that gave us energy on offense,” said Germain.

Portland’s Lewis Gaddas tries to block a shot by Darryl Germain of Deering .

Unlike recent meetings when Portland got out to a fast start, it was Deering storming out of the gate. Germain hit a pair of 3-pointers and Morrione added another, Onek scored four points in the lane, and Morrione hit another 3-pointer just before the quarter ended to give the energized Rams a 16-3 lead.

“I’ve thought about (Portland) since the last time we played and I came in ready,” said Morrione. “Those (3-point) shots were big. I made a couple plays and that just got everyone else going.”

Deering continued to dominate in the second quarter and eventually extended its run to 17-0 on another Morrione 3-pointer to go ahead 25-3.

The Bulldogs made just 13 percent of their first-half shots and by the time the break arrived the score was 36-10.

Portland tried to answer at the start of the second half with a 3-pointer from Pedro Fonseca, but Germain and Morrione countered with 3-pointers, and a steal and layup from Onek allowed the Rams to remain in command, 44-15.

Deering’s Darryl Germain keeps the ball from Pedro Fonseca of Portland.

Deering led by as much as 30 points before the final seven points of the quarter went to the Bulldogs, but the Rams had a 23-point lead, 47-24, heading to the final quarter.

Baskets from Simon Chadbourne and Trey Bellew completed an 11-0 run, but that only brought Portland within 19. When Onek and Germain countered with layups, it was all but over and the Deering fans stormed the court at the final horn.

“It feels awesome,” said Onek. “We came out with great energy, we stuck to that energy and that gave us the victory. We knew we had to hit shots and we had everyone contributing.”

“The kids showed up and we hit our shots tonight,” said Deering Coach Todd Wing. “When we show up and take good shots, we win.”

Portland (10-8) got 15 points from Chadbourne and 11 from Fonseca, but couldn’t overcome the early Deering onslaught.

“We started slowly and (Deering) was extremely hot from the outside,” said Bulldogs Coach Joe Russo. “We just couldn’t score. The kids never gave up and we won the second half.

“I believe we’ll meet again (in next week’s quarterfinals).”

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