BOX SCORE

Cheverus 44 Portland 42

C- 9 11 9 15- 44
P- 14 15 5 8- 42

C- Ismail 8-5-23, St. Onge 4-3-11, Huntington 1-0-3, Nzeyimana 1-1-3, Manning 0-2-2, McNabb 0-2-2

P- Cross 7-2-17, W. Donato 6-0-12, Khamis 3-1-7, Girumugisha 0-2-2, Johnson 0-2-2, Toher 0-2-2

3-pointers:
C (3) Ismail 2, Huntington 1
P (1) Cross 1

Turnovers:
C- 11
P- 13

FTs
C: 13-17
P: 9-19

PORTLAND—Do you believe in miracles?

Rest assured that Cheverus’ boys’ basketball team does.

And thanks to a gutsy effort, dramatic comeback and prayer answered, the Stags are going somewhere they haven’t been in a decade.

The semifinals.

Wednesday evening at the Portland Exposition Building, sixth-ranked Cheverus chased third-seeded Portland in the Class AA North quarterfinals until the final horn.

When one of the biggest shots in program history delivered ecstasy.

And victory.

The Bulldogs were seemingly in control much of the night, grabbing a 14-9 lead after one quarter and closing the second period on an 8-0 run, capped by four quick points from senior Wani Donato, to take a 29-20 advantage to the half.

Portland momentarily took a double-digit lead early in the third quarter, but Stags junior Silvano Ismail refused to let his team go down quietly and Cheverus was only down five, 34-29, heading to the final stanza.

Where the unthinkable happened.

The Bulldogs threatened to put it away when it went up by eight on a basket from senior Spencer Cross, but the Stags simply refused to lose.

After Cheverus drew within a point, 40-39, on a Silvano layup with 1:35 to go, Donato gave Portland a little breathing room with a layup with 19 seconds left, but after Silvano made two foul shots with 8.4 seconds on the clock to make it a one-point game again, Donato went to the line four seconds later with a chance to at the very least, ensure overtime.

But it wasn’t to be, as Donato missed the front end of a one-and-one and after Stags senior Seth Huntington got the rebound, Huntington fed Ismail, who threw up a prayer from some 30-feet away as the horn sounded and the ball bounced off the glass and in for an improbably palpitating 44-42 victory.

Ismail led all players with 23 points as Cheverus evened its record at 9-9, ended Portland’s season at 11-8 and advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2012, where it will battle either No. 2 Oxford Hills (15-3) or No. 7 Bangor (6-12) next Thursday, Feb. 24, at 2 p.m,. at the Cross Insurance Arena across town.

“We’re blessed,” said Stags’ first-year coach Richie Ashley. “I don’t know what else to say. Credit to the kids. They battled all night against a bigger and more physical team and we were just able to make enough plays at the end.”

Getting reacquainted

Cheverus and Portland once met regularly in the postseason, see sidebar for recent results, but the rivals hadn’t met in the tournament since a 45-42 Stags’ victory in the 2011 Western A semifinals. That marked one of the last gasps of the Bob Brown Era at Cheverus, as the Stags went on to lose to Bangor in the state final. They hadn’t advanced past the semifinals since and that game also heralded in a golden era for Portland, as the Bulldogs won state titles in 2014, 2016 and 2017.

This season, both teams have shown glimpses of greatness.

The Stags program has featured new excitement under Ashley and they served notice with a couple early wins over Deering and despite finishing below .500, were competitive throughout.

The Bulldogs, coming off successive three-win seasons, returned to form as victories over the likes of Oxford Hills, Thornton Academy, Cheverus, Bangor, Falmouth and Deering (twice) helped produce an 11-win campaign.

The teams split two regular season meetings, as Portland won at the Stags, 44-41, back on Dec. 21 (behind 15 points from senior Spencer Cross), and Cheverus returned the favor, holding on for a 46-42 victory, Jan. 18 at the Expo (behind 20 points from Ismail).

Wednesday, the Stags showed their resiliency, which allowed Ismail to play the hero at the end.

Ismail opened the scoring with a jumper 51 seconds in, but in a sign of things to come, Bulldogs senior Wani Donato put home a missed shot to tie it.

After sophomore Giovanni St. Onge scored his first points on a leaner, Donato put back another miss, before sophomore Jeissey Khamis’ putback gave the hosts their first lead, 6-4.

Huntington made a 3 midway through the frame to put the Stags back on top and after Cross hit a free throw to tie it, freshman Sammy Nzeyimana set up St. Onge for a layup with 2:50 on the clock for a 9-7 Cheverus lead, which proved to be its last until the final horn.

Twenty-one seconds later, junior Brady Toher got the ball to Cross in the corner and Cross buried the 3 to put Portland ahead. Wani Donato then put home another miss and in the waning seconds, Toher made two free throws to make it 14-9 heading to the second period.

There, Donato fed Khamis for a layup to cap a 9-0 run before St. Onge converted an old-fashioned three-point play (layup, foul, free throw) with 6:26 to go before halftime, snapping a 4 minute, 3 second drought.

After Khamis banked home a shot, Cross made a free throw to stretch the lead to seven, 19-12, but junior Nick Manning made a free throw for the Stags, Ismail sank a pair of foul shots, then a Nzeyimana three-point play pulled Cheverus back within one.

Cross put back a miss to stem the tide and after freshman Leo McNabb made two foul shots, the Bulldogs closed the half in style, with eight straight points to gain a little breathing room.

Sophomore Pepito Girumugisha got things started with a pair of free throws, then sophomore James Johnson sank a pair. After Wani Donato drove for a layup, the Stags hoped to score last, but Huntington’s 3-point attempt was blocked by Cross and at the other end, Cross set up Wani Donato for a layup just before the buzzer and Portland held a 29-20 advantage at the break.

Donato had 10 first half points and the Bulldogs dominated on the glass, 23-8, to seemingly take control.

But Cheverus stayed within hailing distance in the third period.

Cross opened the second half with a driving layup for what proved to be Portland’s biggest lead, but Ismail spun and hit a runner to end the 10-0 run and after a free throw from Khamis, Ismail converted a three-point play, then St. Onge drained two free throws to cut the deficit to five, 32-27.

After Cross hit a contested leaner, senior Anthony Cloutier, who gave the Stags some big minutes off the bench, fed Ismail for a layup.

At the horn, on a play which caused apoplexy on the Cheverus side of the floor, Girumugisha, collecting the ball at midcourt, turned toward the basket and a foul was called, which resulted in three free throws, but all three attempts were off-target and the Bulldogs’ lead was just five, 34-29, entering the fourth.

Cross opened the final period with a jumper and after a Manning free throw, a little hook shot from Cross with 6:21 left made it 38-30 Portland.

But the Bulldogs weren’t home free yet.

Ismail sparked the comeback with a layup, then St. Onge drove for another, cutting the deficit to 38-34 with 5:06 on the clock.

After more than two minutes without a point, Cross put home a miss for a six-point lead with 2:31 left, but 18 seconds later, Ismail took a pass from Nzeyimana and drained a long 3-pointer.

Then, with 1:38 to play, Ismail drove for a layup and the Stags were within one, 40-39.

“(Portland) face-guarded Seth all game and I knew I had to take over,” said Ismail.

After Donato missed a shot, the rebound went out of bounds, giving Cheverus possession, but after a Toher steal, Donato made a layup with 19.7 seconds left and Portland’s lead was 42-39 and the Bulldogs were oh-so-close to advancing.

But it wasn’t to be.

First, with 8.4 seconds to go, Ismail was fouled and he calmly sank both attempts to make it a one-point game again.

Portland managed to get the ball in to Donato, who was fouled with 4.3 seconds left.

Out of a timeout, Donato went to the line for a one-and-one, which was off.

Then came the miracle.

Huntington snared the rebound, immediately dished ahead to Silvano on the right baseline and as time wound down, despite being shadowed by both Donato and junior Pitia Donato, Silvano dribbled past halfcourt, then rose and just before the horn, threw up a shot that appeared long.

But instead, the ball kissed off the backboard and dropped through the net and at 7:19 p.m., Cheverus had a 44-42 victory.

“I looked up with one second and just threw it up,” said Ismail. “It hit the backboard and went in. I was praying. I didn’t know what was happening. It just felt great to beat our crosstown rival. My teammates trusted me, my coach trusted me on that play and the shot went down. It feels really good.”

“I just boxed out and got the rebound and got the ball to Silvano ball-side,” Huntington said. “He was there and made a play. Silvano did what he does. I knew it was going in. It was amazing.”

“We drew something up hoping for a missed foul shot,” Ashley added. “We told Silvano to stay at the top of the key and we’d outlet the ball to him. We told him he had two dribbles and he’d have to take the best shot he possibly can.

“Seth Huntington had the rebound of his life and the outlet pass of his life and Silvano made the shot of his life.”

One side of the Expo erupted in exhilaration.

“I knew it would be a close game,” Ismail said. “We always keep a positive mindset that we’ll come back.”

“It means a whole lot to the kids,” Ashley said. “They’ve worked hard for this. They made a good run right before half and we talked about transition defense and how boxing out would be the key for us to win and that turned out to be true. It’s a huge accomplishment for these guys. They’ve bought into what we’re doing. My staff is Cheverus guys and the kids are Cheverus guys and we have that camaraderie together.”

The other side reacted with shock and agony.

“At the end, we didn’t want to foul,” said longtime Portland coach Joe Russo. “We gave Silvano a little room and he made the shot. God was on their side. He could shoot that 10 more times and not make it. The only way they could of beaten us was the way they did, by making that shot.”

Ismail didn’t just lead all scorers with 23 points, including the biggest shot of the tournament to date, he also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out two assists.

“He’s a captain and he’s one of the better kids in the league,” said Ashley. “He played like a man. He played defense, rebounded and scored 23 of our 44 points. We asked a lot of him and he delivered. He and Wani went at each other for 32 minutes.”

St. Onge also finished in double figures with 11 points. Huntington and Nzeyimana added three points apiece and Manning and McNabb each finished with two.

The Stags made 13-of-17 free throws and only committed 11 turnovers.

Disbelief

Portland’s effort was paced by Cross, who had 17 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in his swan song, and Wani Donato, who had 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in his final game. Khamis added seven points and six rebounds and Girumugisha, Johnson and Toher (four rebounds, two assists and two steals) all had two points. Pitia Donato didn’t score, but snared a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Bulldogs dominated the glass to the tune of a 41-20 advantage, but 13 turnovers and 9-of-19 foul shooting helped seal their doom.

“This is what we’ve done all year,” Russo said. “Tonight was no different. The only difference was the Cheverus kid made a one-handed, 40-footer off the glass and unfortunately for us, the shot went in. We always have a hard time scoring. We got the ball inside to who we wanted to and got some good shots off, but we missed layup after layup. I don’t know how some of those shots didn’t go in. Our free throw shooting didn’t help. An 11-point lead evaporated because we missed shots we had to take and Cheverus chipped away at it and they made their free throws. It was a battle. Both teams worked their butts off.

“It’s just a tough one to swallow because it’s one-and-done. If we hadn’t lost today, who knows how far we might have gone. The kids exceeded my expectations from day one, but they don’t want to hear that right now. They worked hard all year for me and for the program and gave us everything they had. Hopefully, the young kids coming back can score a little more next year.”

Heading downtown

Cheverus lost twice to Oxford Hills this season, 64-51 on the road Jan. 21 and 70-52 at home Feb. 1. The teams have met five times in the tournament, dating to 1989, with Oxford Hills holding a 3-2 advantage. The most recent encounter resulted in a 71-58 Vikings’ victory in the 2019 Class AA North quarterfinals.

Cheverus lost at Bangor in the season opener, 63-41, way back on Dec. 11. The teams have played three times this century, all in the state final, with the Rams winning two, including a 58-49 victory in 2011, the most recent encounter.

The Stags are just thrilled to be playing a semifinal again and like their chances to keep the good times rolling.

“We’re excited to go to the Civic Center,” said Ismail. “We have to practice, stay consistent, keep a positive mindset and get the job done.”

“Everyone’s counted us out from the start of the season, so winning this proved to us and to other people that we’re a competitive team both now and for years to come,” Huntington said. “I’ve dreamed since I was a kid of going to the Civic Center, so to do it with my team is amazing. We have to keep on working hard and focusing on what we do best and trust in our coaches and teammates.”

“Both teams beat us this year, so we’ll have our work cut out for us,” Ashley added. “We’ll have some time to enjoy this, cheer on the girls’ team tomorrow, then get ready for whoever we’re going to play.”

Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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