Portland Girls Make it Look Easy

Portland coach Nick Chaconis said two key carryovers from its championship season are three seniors and defense. Both were on display Tuesday night.

The defending Class S champs shut down East Hampton, then ran away in the second half for an easy 57-19 victory in a girls' basketball game in Portland.

The Highlanders proved whatever struggles it had early in the season are a thing of the past. For the Bellringers, however, their problems remain a part of the present.

“I’m at a complete loss for words for our performance tonight,” East Hampton coach Shaun Russell said. “We had as focused and as good a week of practice as we have had all year. I have no explanation for the performance that was put on tonight. There is zero redeeming value I can take out of this game.”

Portland’s three seniors, Meaghan Rodgers, Alyssa Unikewicz and Sarah Bierly, came out strong, combining for all 14 of the Highlanders’ points in the first quarter and 22 of the team’s 24 points in the first half.

Leading 24-10 at the break, East Hampton (1-3) was still in the game, but Portland quickly put an end to that notion with a 12-0 run to start the third quarter. It wasn’t until 3:25 remained in the third quarter that Klaudia Komarnicka knocked down a three-pointer for the Bellringers’ first points of the half, cutting the deficit to 36-13. By the end of quarter, the Highlanders were up, 43-15.

“We kind of took them out of their game,” Chaconis said. “I expected that from the three seniors. I was kind of happy that we continued extending the lead. … They had to work for every basket. As you get behind, the baskets get tougher, the missed shots, it just seems to multiply. … [Russell] has some good young players. They didn’t quit.”

Portland (3-1) stumbled out of the gate in its season opener, losing at Old Saybrook, 41-36. Not the start Chaconis and his team expected, especially after strong scrimmages during the preseason.

“I thought going down there, our first game of the year, I think we didn’t realize it was a new year and I think the players that were out there were still looking for Kelly [Coleman] and Lindsey [Dionne],” Chaconis said.

Coleman was the two-time Shoreline Conference MVP and Dionne was a second-team All-Conference last season. The two were instrumental in getting the Highlanders to the Class final two years in a row, winning it all last season.

That the Highlanders struggled some against Old Lyme, too, winning by eight in a game that was close until the final minutes, might have been cause for some concern, but Chaconis believes that game might have been the spark.

“It was a long ride home from Old Lyme,” Chaconis said. “I think they just tied their sneakers a little tighter. They know they can play, and now the pressure is off.”

Portland has since beaten North Branford by 16 and won at Cromwell, 36-32, before Tuesday night’s victory.

Chaconis is pleased with what he is seeing from his team.

“I felt this from the beginning of the year. I know there’s probably stronger teams on paper, but I think confidence-wise and experience-wise, I think if we can get it into the fourth quarter in a close game, we can do all right,” he said. “We have two of the best guards in Class S, Meaghan and Alyssa, Sarah is tough to match at center, so those three seniors can really give us a lot of experience. Now the new players are starting to fill in.”

The good news for East Hampton is that after starting the season with four road games, they will finally get to play in front of the home crowd. The bad news is the opponent in its home opener will be Coginchaug.

“We have most likely the most difficult game on our schedule Friday night playing most likely the best team in our conference,” said Russell, whose team lost by 41 to Hyde when they last played on Dec. 13.

In other words, only time for two practices before facing perhaps their toughest test this season. A significant challenge considering, as Russell pointed out, the good practices from the past week didn’t carryover into Tuesday night’s performance.

“I take as much responsibility if not more for that than anybody else,” he said. “It’s my job to get them ready to play. I’m not sure where to start. I tell you that we will get to it [Wednesday] and continue to get to it until we straighten it out to the point where we find a consistent level of competitiveness on both ends of the floor.

“I thought defensively we were marching that way. Now we’re showing our cracks there. Offensively, I knew we’d have our challenges throughout. We talked about getting the ball as much to the basket as possible. I think we missed several layups tonight, so maybe on film that will show that we’re executing slightly better than it appears on the scoreboard.”

Komarnicka was the lone bright spot on offense for East Hampton, scoring 11 points. No other player had more than two points.

“At this point we have several holes in the dam to plug up and we have to get started on it [Wednesday],” Russell said. “We have to have the right attitude, the right approach toward it. The kids are giving me that, so I don’t have any issues there, but performance-wise and production, we are nowhere near we need to be.”

Rodgers and Unikewicz scored 12 each to lead Portland. Bierly had 10 and McKenzie Reimondo and Laura Wall added six each.

Portland will next play Hale-Ray at home on Thursday at 7 p.m.  East Hampton hosts Coginchaug at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.