The Moss brothers combined to score 33 points as Portland cruised to a 72-42 victory against Cheverus in an SMAA boys’ basketball game on Wednesday night at the Portland Expo.

Amir Moss, a senior guard, scored a game-high 18 points and his younger brother, Terion Moss, a sophomore point guard, added 15 for the Bulldogs (12-1).

Portland freshman Trey Bellew tries to break through to the basket between Tre Fletcher, left, and Jake Tomkinson of Cheverus during Portland’s 72-42 victory Wednesday night at the Portland Exposition Building. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Portland freshman Pedro Fonseca watches the ball Wednesday night after taking a shot against Cheverus. Portland took charge early, opening a 48-17 lead, and never was threatened in a 72-42 victory at the Expo. Photos by Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Amir Moss, who scored a game-high 18 points for Portland, soars for a jump shot over the Cheverus defense. The Bulldogs, executing their offense well, hit 68 percent of their shots in the deciding first half.

“I’m very pleased with how the kids came out and played tonight,” Portland Coach Joe Russo said.

The Bulldogs played up-tempo but under control.

“They made some great decisions,” Russo said. “They were unselfish. Everybody seemed to make some good decisions. If we can harness that and finish the season with that concept in mind, it would be nice.”

It was the fourth consecutive win for the Bulldogs, who were coming off a 61-59 win over Thornton Academy at Saco.

“We brought a lot of energy into the game tonight,” said Joe Esposito, who scored 10 points for Portland. “Against (Thornton on) Monday, we weren’t into the game, we weren’t competing. Altogether tonight, we had just great team chemistry. We worked the ball around.”

Portland’s first unit committed just six turnovers in the first half.

“When you make good decisions, that means you don’t turn the ball over and (our opponent) has the ball less,” Esposito said. “We take time when we pass the ball because turnovers are a big part of the game.”

In the first half, the Bulldogs sank 18 of 26 shots for an extraordinary 68 percent to take a 48-17 lead. Five players combined for eight 3-pointers.

“We’re a pretty good shooting team,” Russo said. “Tonight we shot well, but the (shot) selection was much better. It helps when we execute our offense, which puts us in spots where you don’t have to shoot quickly.”

Portland hit its first four shots from beyond the arc to open a 15-4 lead less than five minutes into the game. It finished the first quarter with a 7-0 run to make it 24-7.

The Bulldogs had runs of 10-3 and 14-7 in the second quarter to steadily pull away from the Stags (8-5).

“The shooting percentage was awesome tonight, but a lot of it had to with executing our offense in the right spots,” Russo said.

Russo seemed especially pleased with the play of Terion Moss.

“He played a tremendous point-guard game tonight,” Russo said.

“He pushed the ball and made good decisions. He executed the offense, dished the ball. When his shot was there, he looked for it, but by running the offense his option was third. His options just came up just by doing that.”

Jack Casale led the Stags with 11 points.

Cheverus Coach Ryan Soucie tried to find a positive for his team.

The Stags did outscore Portland 25-24 in the second half.

“It’s a moral victory,” Soucie said. “I’m not a huge fan of moral victories but in a game like this, we will take what we can get and move on.

“We knew we were going to have a challenge on our hands. We knew we were going to have to step up to meet that, and we came up short tonight. We’ve got to go back and try to get better. We know now what it takes to compete with these teams.”

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