With Tuesday’s Class AA rivalry game hanging in the balance, Portland High’s Benilson “Benny” Lumani, a 6-foot-6 junior center in his third year of organized basketball, took over.

Lumani scored on a designed inbound tip play to put Portland ahead to stay. Then he dunked home an offensive rebound and scored in transition after a South Portland free throw to give Portland a four-point lead with under a minute to play. Lumani, who scored 14 points off the bench, helped seal the win with a blocked shot and an assist to Loic Ramazani for the game’s final points in the Bulldogs’ 46-38 win at the Portland Expo.

“You say someone is getting better every day. He’s actually getting better every hour,” said Portland coach Joe Russo. “At first it was his size that helped with our defense. Now he’s scoring. Now he’s passing. We’re so happy for him. And we’re happy for us.”

Milestone watch

• Russo has 499 wins. Only nine Maine high school basketball coaches have reached 500 wins. Portland improved to 9-8 and will host Cheverus at 7 p.m. Wednesday, and will also host a AA North quarterfinal game as, likely, the third seed. “I have two attempts to get it this year,” Russo said of win No. 500. “It’s not the most important thing on my radar but it is a number.”

Looking ahead

• Portland entered the contest No. 3 in AA North Heal point standings a fraction of a point ahead of Edward Little. Russo said he believes beating South Portland should clinch the third seed.

• South Portland (12-5) remains in second place in the AA South heal standings behind Thornton Academy (15-2). The Red Riots and Thornton are the only AA South teams with winning records. Deering (8-9) could reach .500 with a win at Windham, scheduled for Thursday.

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How it happened

• Portland forced eight South Portland turnovers in the first quarter and held the Red Riots to 6-of-21 shooting from the floor. Ramazani (three steals in the first quarter) and Maddox Meas combined to keep South Portland star guard Manny Hidalgo scoreless as the Bulldogs led 22-13 at the half.

• South Portland won the third quarter, 17-10, as Hidalgo found space to penetrate and scored nine points.

• Gabe Jackson found the range on a short floater and then an NBA-distance 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to put South Portland ahead 37-36, its first lead since the first quarter.

Statistical notes

• Lumani scored a game-high 14 points, and Lucas LeGage added 12. LeGage made two key free throws to stretch the lead to six points with 20 seconds to play. Cordell Jones added nine points and strong overall play.

• Jackson finished with 13 points with three 3-pointers. Hidalgo had nine points for South Portland.

They said it

• “We’re always focused on defense. It’s always our number one priority. As long as we hustle and have high effort, I mean, that’s our mojo: High effort.” — Lucas LeGage, Portland junior guard

• “Lack of scoring has been an issue all year. … Top-tier defensive teams are giving us a hard time.” — Kevin Millington, South Portland coach

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