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Sports

Portland Seniors End Regular Season In Style

Coleman and Dionne lead Lady Highlanders to Shoreline Conference regular season title

It could have been because it was senior night, it could have been because the weather today felt like summer or it just could have been because Portland has one heck of a good basketball team.

The Lady Highlanders shook the pregame ceremonial introductions off their back after a couple of possessions and went out and had an opening quarter that just left you in awe, en route to a 58-38 victory over Hale-Ray in Portland.

Falling behind 3-0, Portland went on a 22-2 run to close out the quarter with a 17 point lead.  Alyssa Unikewicz drilled three three-pointers, Meaghan Rodgers and Kelly Coleman also hit three-pointers. Sarah Bierly and Lindsey Dionne also scored in the quarter.  This offensive explosion was in part due to a suffocating and trapping defense which lead to several Hale-Ray turnovers which Portland quickly converted into points.

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"It feels good when you come out strong and you get a nice lead," Rodgers said.  "We've been playing together since like the third grade so it means a lot to have such a good game."

Unikewicz, who scored all of her nine points in the first quarter, played another solid game on both ends of the floor.  Teaming up with Rodgers, the tandem wreaked havoc for the Little Noises' ballhandlers and Hale-Ray really never got into any offensive rhythm.

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"Our team played hard on every play and we went into the game wanting to contain Coleman down low and that opened up their perimeter shooters and give credit to them, they knocked down the shots," Hale-Ray coach Andrew Riccio said.

At halftime, the Lady Highlanders maintained their 17 point lead, 37-20.  Coleman had 13 of her game high 24 in the half while Bierly added five of her seven.  Coleman and Bierly once again controlled the backboards as both banged around all night making sure Hale-Ray didn't get too many second-chance baskets.

Portland (17-3, 16-1 Shoreline Conference) began to use a bit more of the clock in the second half and clamped down harder on defense allowing only two points in the third quarter to open a 47-22 lead by the end of the quarter.  Every Portland player contributed in big ways but one play that epitomizes the culture of this team was when Bierly had her shot blocked under the basket and without hesitation she pursued the elusive ballhandler until she was finally able to tip the ball to one of her teammates just before Hale-Ray's Missy Martin was about to shoot. 

The fourth quarter played out as it should on Senior Night with Coleman and Dionne scoring eight of the teams eleven points before being removed from the game with 1:10 left to a very appreciative applause from the capacity crowd at the David L. Bengston gymnasium.

"It seems like a long time that we've played in our gym and we knew that they were going to come in fired up and we really wanted to win on senior night," Coleman said.

Portland coach Nick Chaconis cleared his bench as the Highlanders wrapped up first place in the Shoreline Conference.

"It's a nice honor, it's tough to see the seniors go by," Chaconis said of Senior Night. "We were talking in the locker room that it seemed like yesterday that they were freshmen and were saying goodbye to their first senior group. I think Kelly and Lindsey are great role models for the rest of the team." 

The Lady Highlanders will play their opening round Shoreline Conference tournament game at home this Saturday night at 7 p.m.  The opponent is to be determined.

Look for Viewfinder Thursday starting at 1 p.m. for some more photos of Senior Night in Portland and East Hampton.

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