Lady Raiders Stomp Lansing Catholic in Season Opener 54-33

The Portland High School girls basketball team hosted the Cougars of Lansing Catholic on Tuesday night in the season opening contest for both CAAC White schools.

The Raiders jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.

Junior Ashley Bower led Portland with 30 points, 12 of which came on three pointers. Junior Ava Guilford added 20 points to the Raiders cause, and junior Breckyn Werner contributed four points.

The Cougars were led by freshman Leah Richards who scored 13 points.

After the game, Portland coach Jason Haid said, “It kind of went the way we anticipated. We were good in stretches and we were bad in stretches. The good outweighed the bad, luckily, and we got the win. We need to continue to get better as a team. I think we shot the ball pretty well in the first half, got us off to a great start. We shared the ball really well. I don’t think we rebounded very well. We need to improve in that area. That (Lansing Catholic) is small, quick, athletic team. It is different from what we have seen in the past. They usually have a lot of size.”

Haid added that the Cougars this season are a “Very guard-oriented team. We had to change some things up defensively, but our girls did a good job of adjusting. I though we ran the floor pretty well.”

Haid went on to say, “We have a ways to go. We have to get in shape. I think some of our mistakes will go away when we get in better condition. Controlling the ball heading into this weekend is going to be a focus for us… and rebounding. Overall, I was pleased with the effort, especially not playing together since March as a team. We were able to get off to such a great start because we have those same kids back from last year. It is almost like when they stepped on the floor together, it was just like riding a bike for them. They didn’t forget how. They came out there and we came out with a purpose. We knew it was a rival game, and we really wanted this game bad on our home floor since we lost to them last year on our home floor in the second game. I am just proud of the way the battled all game and I look forward to getting better.”

Scoring Summary by Quarter

1st – 2nd – 3rd – 4th – Final

Portland 21 – 14 – 6 – 13 – 54

Lansing Catholic 8 – 5 – 7 – 13 – 33

The Raiders next two contests are on the road. They travel to Eaton Rapids on Friday, before going to East Lansing on Saturday.

Photos by AJ Guilford.