Published March 1, 2025 by Drew Bonifant, Portland Press Herald.
Emma Travis scores 17 points, Destiny Peter adds 16 as the Red Riots won their first title since 1986.
The South Portland girls basketball team didn’t need to look far for extra motivation heading into the Class AA final. All the Red Riots needed to do was look at their gym wall.
“We were looking at the banners, and the boys won (two) a couple of years ago, and ours has just been blank for so many years,” sophomore Annie Whitmore said. “We’re like, ‘We’re going to win this.'”
It’s time for an update. Emma Travis scored 17 points, Destiny Peter added 16 points and 15 rebounds, and South Portland won its first state championship since 1986 with a 54-48 victory over defending champion Cheverus at Cross Insurance Arena on Saturday.
Whitmore added 11 points and six rebounds for South Portland (19-3), which had made only one state final appearance, in 2020, since winning Class A 39 years ago.
“It’s absolutely surreal, it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I can’t really explain the type of feeling,” said Travis, who added 10 rebounds. “But it’s the best way to end my senior year.”
Cheverus (16-6) was denied its third title in four years. The Stags, led by 26 points from Kylie Lamson, never led after the first quarter but pulled within three points midway through the fourth quarter before a dry spell stretching more than five minutes doomed their comeback chances.
“Our girls just kept fighting. We just couldn’t get shots to fall,” Cheverus coach Billy Goodman said. “Credit them, they played good D. I like how my team keeps fighting.”
Playing with two sophomores and two juniors in the starting lineup, South Portland looked comfortable on the championship stage. The Red Riots burned the Stags frequently in transition and on the fast break, and with second chances on the glass. South Portland outrebounded Cheverus 43-24.
“They scored easier than we did tonight,” said Goodman, who also got nine points from Addie Jordan and eight points and three blocks from Abby Kelly. “We had to fight for everything, and they got a lot of putback layups. I think that’s the difference.”
Travis, who had 12 points by halftime, sparked the team on the break, while Peter dominated on the boards.
“I went into the game and I was excited, surprisingly. Usually I’m nervous,” she said. “We worked five hard practices coming into this game. I’ve just been excited, and putting that excitement out on the floor is really what made my mindset go harder. It brought this result.”
Still, Cheverus didn’t go away. After South Portland went ahead by seven midway through the second quarter, the Stags cut the gap to two by halftime. After the Red Riots took a 43-35 lead on a Whitmore 3-pointer with 7:32 to play, Cheverus responded again, with Lamson hitting a 3 and then scoring after a steal by Kelly to make it 45-42 with 5:40 to go.
It was the prime spot for a still-young team to buckle. But the Red Riots kept their poise.
“We talk about all season, it’s a game of runs,” South Portland coach Brianne Maloney said. “It’s how you handle the other team’s run that’s going to determine the outcome. I thought all season long, we’ve done a nice job staying focused and calm and composed during another team’s runs. That didn’t change today.”
South Portland made its best defensive stand of the game, keeping the Stags off the board for the next 5:32. Cheverus was 0-for-6 shooting in that stretch and committed three turnovers.
“Communication’s the key in any good team, with anything, offense or defense,” Travis said. “We were helping each other out … (and) we just executed the way we needed to.”
South Portland stretched its lead to 50-42 on a basket from Caleigh Corcoran with 57 seconds left. Cheverus misfired on its next possession, Peter had a putback on the other end, and the game was all but over.
“It’s definitely mind-blowing,” Peter said. “I didn’t expect us to make it all the way here, but we did.”
For Maloney, a 2014 South Portland alum who took over as head coach this season, the win had a special feeling.
“It’s still sinking in. I can’t believe we did it, but I’m so proud,” she said. “The emotions are so strong, to do it with the community that I was raised in, grew up in, playing for this school. To come back and now win it as a coach is a great feeling.”
And now the Red Riots have a Gold Ball that was a long time coming.
“It’s a dream come true, really,” Whitmore said. “It was always the outcome that we all wanted. … I’m just so proud of everyone. We’ve all grown so much.”