Portland Girls Advance to Quarterfinals

One by one they were sent to the free-throw line. Sarah Bierly, Alyssa Unikewicz, Meaghan Rodgers. Three seniors knowing a loss will be the final game in what has been very successful high school careers.

So, in a game where points were like gold, the seniors prospered from the line late, sent there by a Bloomfield team playing a desperate game of catch up.

A three-pointer by Unikewicz early in the fourth quarter gave Portland a 29-27 lead and the Highlanders slowly pulled away for a 41-32 victory in a Class S tournament second-round game over the Warhawks at home on Friday night.

“The three seniors, you know, they just play so well together,” Portland coach Nick Chaconis said.

So, it was no surprise the ball and the game were in their hands in the final two minutes. As a result, Portland lives on to play again, still defending its Class S crown, but this game wasn’t easy.

Bloomfield (13-10) had won seven of 10 heading into the game, including a victory over RHAM and a double-overtime loss to Ellington. The Warhawks also brought a large and vocal contingent to Portland. Combined with the Highlanders’ faithful, the gym was loud. The atmosphere electric.

Portland started off slow, a three by Unikewicz its only basket of the first quarter. Bloomfield wasn’t much better, however. At halftime, the Highlanders held a 15-14 lead.

In third quarter, Portland’s full-court pressure rattled Bloomfield. Brianna Marconi hit two fee throws after being fouled off a steal. Laura Wall later converted a layup off an assist from Unikewicz for 19-14 lead and Bierly scored on a fastbreak layup to make it 21-14.

Breeana Williams finally ended Portland’s run with a driving one-hander in the lane to make the score, 21-16. Trailing 23-16, Bloomfield’s Corrine Williams took over. Williams hit a baby hook and added three free throws to close the deficit to 23-21. After a baseline 17 footer from Wall, Katrina Matthews scored on a nice post move to pull Bloomfield within 25-23. Matthews then had a key block that led to a three by Corrine Williams and Bloomfield was suddenly up 26-25 heading into the fourth.

Unikewicz began the fourth with her third three-pointer of the game, then a short time later knifed her way into the lane for a pretty fastbreak layup off an assist from Rodgers to increase Portland’s lead to 30-27 with 6:19 remaining.

“The opportunities pretty much presented themselves,” Unikewicz said. “They were great passes from Meaghan Rodgers on both of them. They were great assists from her.”

Said Chaconis: “That’s our streak player. Alyssa, when she gets on a roll like that, she picks up the offense.”

The offense, however, was short-lived. Whether it was great defense, a patient, deliberate offense by Portland or poor shooting, those were the last points scored by either team until two free throws by Bierly with 1:47 to go in the game.

“We wanted to be patient. I don’t care if we take two minutes to shoot,” Chaconis said.

Chaconis pointed out that despite his team being unable to add to its lead during the scoreless stretch, they did not falter defensively.

“A lot of it was their mental toughness,” he said. “They didn’t crack in that six-minute span. Bloomfield had a lot of opportunities. We just thought if we could make them work for every basket as they’re coming down and not let them get the ball inside. When they got it down, we had to play a tight zone and put Bierly on wherever [Matthews] was.”

From there, Bloomfield went into foul mode and Portland extended its lead to 38-27 from the line. Finally, Breeana Williams banked in a wild three to close the gap to 36-30 with 58 seconds left.

On another night there might have still been some hope for the Warhawks, but not Friday night. Portland was hitting its free throws.

Bierly, who finished 8-for-8 from the line in the fourth quarter, calmly walked to the line and knocked down two and the other seniors chipped in a few of their own. For the game, Portland was 18-for-24.

“That’s always been a strength of ours,” Chaconis said.

All that was left was for the Portland student section to send Bloomfield off with a little serenading. The victory was the Highlanders' 10th in their last 11 state tournament games.

Next up for Portland is a quarterfinal game against Thomaston (18-3) on Thursday at 7 p.m. The two teams have met the past two years in the Class S tournament, both times in the quarterfinals. Two years ago Thomaston was undefeated and the No. 1 seed, but the game was on a neutral court. Last year the game was in Portland. This year? The game will be at Thomaston.

“I’m happy to be there,” Chaconis said. “I think they’d like to see us there. I’m just happy for this crew.”

Chaconis then seemed to address some doubters.

“I think this was a game that was 50-50 and I think a lot of people thought because of [Bloomfield’s] strength of schedule – and they had some big wins – that we wouldn’t be able to match up with them. I just give our team credit,” he said. Maybe we don’t have an All-State player, but we certainly have seven solid players that can compete against any team in Class S.”

There is something to be said for Portland's strength of schedule, too. Of the eight quarterfinal teams in Class S, four are from the Shoreline Conference. Cromwell also has advanced in Class M.

Bierly led Portland with 19 points. Unikewicz had 12.

For Bierly, Rodgers and Unikewicz, this was their final home game.

“It feels great to win my last home game, it feels good to finish up strong,” Unikewicz said. “I’m really proud of our team. We’re going to the quarterfinals and I knew we could do it.”

Friday's Results

Class S

Capital Prep 62, Shepaug Valley 32
Cheney Tech 45, Parish Hill 29
Coginchaug 56, St. Bernard 25
Hyde Leadership 58, East Windsor 37
Morgan 49, Wamogo 37
Portland 41, Bloomfield 32
Somers 61, Platt Tech 50
Thomaston 53, Lyman Memorial 34

To view the Class S bracket, click here.

Note: Portland and Bloomfield records do not include conference tournament games.