Lady Raiders top Escanaba, Advance to State Semi-Finals

On Monday night, the Portland High School Lady Raider basketball team traveled to Houghton Lake to face off with the Eskimos of Escanaba in the MHSAA quarter-finals.

The Portland team entered the game with a 17-2 record, while Escanaba entered the game with a 14-4 record.

With the game occurring during Portland’s Spring Break, many supporters gathered around computer screens and tablets from remote locations across the country to cheer them on. Personally, I was in a condo with 15 other Portlanders watching the game from Orange Beach, Alabama.

The Raiders jumped out to an early lead, and despite only being able to muster three points in the second quarter, they were able to hold off the Eskimos and earn a 47-41 victory.

Offensively, Portland was led by juniors Ashley Bower with 22 points and Ava Guilford with 10 points.

Escanaba was led offensively by Nicole Kamin who scored 14 points.

Scoring summary by quarter:

1st – 2nd – 3rd – 4th – Final

Portland 22 – 3 – 11 – 11 – 47

Escanaba 11 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 41

Portland advances to the semi-finals where they will play Parma Western. The Panthers are 18-4 after defeating Gabriel Richard 53-50 in the quarter-finals. The Panthers also ended Lansing Catholics post season in the regional finals 55-52.

The semi-final game will be Wednesday night at 5:30 at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. According to the MHSAA website, the game will be live streamed on https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/

Photos by AJ Guilford.