SOUTH PORTLAND—South Portland’s girls basketball team is coming of age. Is it ever. Friday evening at Beal Gymnasium, hosting the reigning state champion Cheverus Stags, the Red Riots had an extremely frustrating first half, shooting less than 20 percent from the floor and falling behind, 21-15, at the break.
And then came the second half. And a breakthrough that might just propel the team to glory in a month’s time. South Portland nearly doubled its first half points production with a 26-point third period, as sophomore Mya Lawrence scored 10 points, and the Red Riots got the job at both ends, going up by as many as 11 points before unheralded Cheverus freshman reserve Holly Irazhoza improbably banked home a 3 at the horn to cut the deficit to 41-33.
The Stags twice drew within six in the fourth quarter, but the Red Riots didn’t buckle and thanks to stellar performances from senior captain Emma Travis, juniors Caleigh Corcoran, Stella Henderson and Destiny Peter and sophomore Annie Whitmore, they did enough to pull away and prevail, 59-47. Lawrence led a balanced attack with 15 points, four different South Portland players wound up in double figures and the Red Riots improved to 13-3 while dropping Cheverus to 11-5 in the process. “It’s huge for us,” said Travis.
“I hadn’t beaten them. No one in the program had done it. It’s super-big to know we’re moving in the right direction.
There was a little fire to it, but it’s just another game and we had to r.
