Strong start propels Portland West

PORTLAND With the Sumner County Conference tournament approaching, the boys middle-school basketball teams from rivals Portland East and Portland West were looking to gain momentum heading into postseason play when they clashed on Monday evening.

Led by 21 points from Dairius Bell, Portland West got off to a fast start and never looked back, cruising to a 52-32 win over visiting Portland East.

“You always want to get a victory over your cross-town rival, and it was good to get that,” Portland West head coach Bill Runyon said. “They didn’t start the group that I thought they would. Even though we scored several points in the first three minutes, we were a little frazzled, because we physically and mentally prepared for that first group. We didn’t click as much as I thought we should have.”

An 11-0 run helped Portland East quickly build an 18-5 lead.

Thirteen of Bell’s 21 points came in the first half as Portland West took a 27-14 lead into halftime.

Bell and point guard Samari Patton combined for 31 points.

“All year long, they’re our horses and our go-to players,” Runyon said. “At different points in the season though, we’ve had a different kid step up and score 10-12 points for us.”

Portland East (1-11) was able to mount a comeback in the third quarter to pull to within seven points at 32-25. Connor Simmons and Quintin Fowler combined for nine points during the surge.

However, an injury to guard Dawson Kennedy set Portland East back and allowed Portland West (5-7) to finish the quarter on a 6-0 run.

“Dawson rolled his ankle, and he’s one of only three kids that we have above 5-foot-5,” Portland East head coach Scott Steinbrecher said. “So when he went down, we were tiny and didn’t have as many ballhandlers. They saw it, and give Coach Runyon credit. He pressed (full court), and we just became a turnover machine.”

Simmons led all Portland East scorers with 13 points, and Fowler provided 10 points.

The two teams earlier meeting at Portland East was much closer, a 38-33 victory for Portland West.

Portland West plays at Knox Doss on Thursday and concludes the regular season by hosting Rucker-Stewart on Monday. Portland East hosts Rucker-Stewart on Thursday and will play at Hunter on Monday.

“Knox Doss has been everybody’s buzzsaw,” Runyon said. “They’re beating teams by almost 30 points a game. They’re just that (dominant) team this year. We’re going to give our best effort in practice the next two days and have a game plan moving forward with them.”

PORTLAND EAST (32) – Connor Simmons 13, Quintin Fowler 10, Dawson Kennedy 5, D.J. Bradley 2, Xavier Foster 2.

PORTLAND WEST (52) – Dairius Bell 21, Samari Patton 10, Caleb Mandrell 9, Cade Box 6, Robbie Bradley 4, Rogers Gordon 2.

Half: 27-14, Portland West. Three-point field goals: Portland East 2 (Kennedy 1, Simmons 1), Portland West 1 (Patton 1). Records: Portland East 1-11, Portland West 5-7.