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Sports

Coming Up Short

Portland boys were expected to contend for Class S tournament berth

Nate Turner, the Portland boys' basketball coach, expected the Highlanders to be in better position heading into the final stretch of games. They were 2-18 a year ago and returned five starters, and he knew he had players to work with in building a reliable and somewhat deep bench.

The adversity encountered by the Highlanders, who are 2-10 this season, leaves them with the difficult task of winning six of their remaining eight games to qualify for the Class S state tournament. Portland, which plays at Hyde Leadership on Tuesday, is in the midst of a six-game losing streak. The last victory was a 59-58 win on Jan. 3 at East Hampton.

The dreams for success by the players, coaches and fans have never materialized. The culprit, according to Turner, has been the players not embracing the team concept to the degree it must be to become ingrained.

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“The effort is there. The capitalization is not,” Turner said. “We haven’t played a lot of bad basketball, except for the last few games.

“The chemistry is starting to come with the younger guys. We’re a little off balance.”

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In mid-January, George Sirigos was lost for the season with a knee injury. He was a senior co-captain who averaged 14.2 points and 11.3 rebounds a game in 2009-10 but could not approach those stats this season. On Friday at Hale-Ray, Turner kept senior co-captain Kyle Philipchik off the active roster for the second time this season, citing “in-house” reasons. Turner did not say then whether Philipchik’s absence would be permanent or temporary.

Two sources close to the team indicated that Philipchik will not be returning.

There has been much individual play – players open and not receiving the ball, forced shots when patience and more passing in the half-court offense were wiser options. Helping defensively in man-to-man coverage and not sliding over when opponents move between zone coverage areas have not been as consistent as they could be.

It has not been a winning formula.

“We’ve had teamwork to a certain degree,” Turner said. “It’s coming. The kids haven’t been in the gym for a while and it showed. Good Ole Mother Nature has been playing her part in this.”

Turner has been pleased with three sophomores who have stepped in – center Nick Stokke, guard Matt Ryan and forward Jack Kelley. Kelley had season highs on Friday in a 69-33 loss at Hale-Ray with nine points and nine rebounds. Still, they are lacking varsity experience, which puts the Highlanders at a disadvantage when playing against opposition with more veterans.

“The young guys are definitely doing a good job for the amount of time they’ve been in there,” Turner said. “They’re slowly coming around.”

A look at the season’s numbers reveals Portland’s struggles. The Highlanders have averaged scoring 48.4 points scored a game while allowing 59.1. Five of the 10 losses have been by margins of 10 points or fewer, including a 50-49 loss to Morgan on Jan. 14 in Portland. Five of the losses have been by 12 points or more, two of which in the two most recent games.

Hale-Ray coach Marty Ryczek was supportive of Turner.

“Nate’s done a real good job this season,” he said.

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