Lady Raiders battle back to defeat Ionia

Despite trailing the Bulldogs most of the night on Friday, the Portland High School girls basketball fought back on the road to defeat the Ionia 45-39.

At the end of the first quarter, Ionia led Portland 11-10, but in the second quarter extended their lead to 24-17.

A strong third quarter for the Raiders cut the lead to one point at the end of the third, with Ionia leading 28-27.

With several lead changes in the fourth quarter of play, the final seconds of the game were all Portland, and the Lady Raiders picked up a 45-39 road win.

Ionia was led offensively by freshman guard Tessa Lemke with 11 points, and sophomore guard Alexias Daugherty who scored nine points.

The Lady Raider offense was led by junior guard Malia Thelen who score 23 points, 12 of which came in the final quarter of play. Junior forward Alexa Weber score six points. Freshman guards Lily Thelen and Summer Stopcynski each had five points. Junior guard Jayden Townsend scored three points, while freshman guard Bella Spitzley scored two points, and junior guard Ella Gruber added one point.

Scoring by quarter:

1st – 2nd – 3rd – 4th – Final

Portland 10 – 7 – 10 – 18 – 45

Ionia 11 – 13 – 4 – 11 – 39

With the win Portland moves to 12-6 overall, and are 6-1 in the CAAC White.

Next week their only scheduled contest is on Tuesday night when they host Grand Rapids Covenant Christian. The Chargers are currently 8-9 overall.