Portland Boy’s Basketball Dominates Ithaca, 59-41

Portland Boy’s Varsity Basketball went into Friday night’s contest against the Ithaca Yellowjackets with very little rest. Playing three games in four days is never an easy task, but the Raiders closed out the tough stretch with a 59-41 victory.

The Raiders opened up the first quarter hot with Trent Meyers scoring 8 points early. Marc Nobis made big plays defensively allowing the Raiders to pull away midway through the period. Senior Forward, Grant Ruddy made his presence known in the paint scoring a few early buckets and playing terrific defense. Sophomore, Aiden Marowelli capped off the first quarter with a buzzer beater layup, creating some early momentum which carried over to the second quarter.

Ithaca could not handle the Raiders tenacious defense, throwing the ball away numerous times and losing the majority of 50-50 opportunities, throughout the first half. Marowelli shined during the second quarter due to Portland’s excellent ball movement and ability to find the open man. Sophomore newcomer, Arnau Lopez made a few tough shots extending the lead to 18 at the half.

The Raiders came out of halftime ready, forcing the Yellowjackets to use a timeout not even a minute into the quarter. Meyers had a hot hand all night, making a few more contested jumpers and the team continued to battle for loose balls. Ithaca did have some success on the offensive end of the court, but their defense was unable to stop the Raiders huge shooting night. Senior, Jack Roe closed out the third quarter by finessing his way to the hoop for an easy layup.

Despite some questionable calls, the Raiders maintained their fiery spirits and played until the final buzzer. Luke Nobis, Marc Nobis and Ethan Patrick all scored buckets late for the Raiders, closing out a well-played contest against a tough Ithaca squad. Portland will look to stay in the winning column this Monday night @ Fowler, with a 7 'o'clock tipoff.