- James Townsend
Lady Raiders are Breslin Bound
For the first time in school history, the Portland High School girls basketball team is heading to the MHSAA state championship game.
The Lady Raiders defeated the Panthers of Parma Western 45-38 on Wednesday night at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids in the MHSAA Class B semi-finals.
Portland Junior Ashley Bower led all scorers with 17 points, with two three-pointers, and going seven out of nine at the free throw line. Bower also had five rebounds and one steal.
Junior Ava Guilford scored 12 points with four three-pointers, and had seven rebounds with three steals. Junior Alivia Densmore scored nine points, grabbed nine rebounds and had two blocks for the Raiders, while senior Ava Gruber added five points and three steals. Junior Breckyn Werner added two points and three rebounds.
Parma Western was led by Junior Lilli Luma who scored 15 points.
Scoring summary by quarter:
1st – 2nd – 3rd – 4th – Final
Portland 10 – 15 – 7 – 13 – 45
Parma Western 9 – 12 – 11 – 6 – 38
The Panthers season ends with a 18-5 overall record. They knocked out Portland’s CAAC rival Lansing Catholic in their regional finals.
The Lady Raiders improve to 19-2. They will face Lions of Newaygo on Friday at 5:30 PM at the Breslin Center at MSU for the championship.
Newaygo is 21-1. Their sole loss of the season was a 38-33 loss to Portland on February 24th.
The Lions defeated Detroit County Day 55-39 in their semi-final contest at the Van Andel.
You can see both teams paths to the finals in the bracket image below.
The championship game will be live streamed at
Photos courtesy of AJ Guilford. Press conference image courtesy of Fred Lowery Jr. Bracket from MHSAA.com
