PORTLAND – An annual late December staple of the local sports scene is the Portland High School Holiday Hoops Classic held at the Portland Expo. Now in its 25th year, the tournament gives boys basketball teams a chance to match up against opponents they don’t normally see in the regular season and work on skills under game conditions without worrying about wins and losses impacting the regular season standings.
The Expo was a busy place on Wednesday afternoon, with eight games scheduled. Right in the middle of those eight games, the Lake Region Lakers and the Windham Eagles squared off in what was billed as the 501st game in the history of the Holiday Hoops Classic.
While the Class A Eagles and the Class B Lakers don’t cross paths normally, the game on Wednesday showed that the teams were evenly matched, with Windham pulling away with a 42-33 win.
After the game, Windham Head Coach Kevin Millington said he likes events like the Holiday Hoops Classic because it allows him to get his entire roster some valuable experience. “We started our second group,” Millington said, adding that he did that in an effort to keep his players fresh. “We’ve got some injuries and we needed to get some depth, (so) it’s a good time to get all our guys in the game.”
The Eagles spread the offense around, with no player scoring in double digits in the game. Sophomore Tom McGowan and senior Ben Noble both led Windham with six points each and senior Drew Gagnon, junior Jed Merrill, senior Kyle Williams and sophomore Shawn Francoeur each had five points.
For the Lakers, Kevin Gilson led the way with a game-high 17 points and senior Danny Place chipped in 10.
Windham tried to control the tempo of the game from the outset, jumping out to an 8-3 lead just four minutes into the contest on a long 3 from Williams. However, the Lakers regrouped as the quarter went on, shutting down the Eagles offensively and cutting the Eagle lead to 10-7 after one.
Windham doubled their lead to 13-7 about a minute into the second quarter when Gagnon hit a field goal and a foul shot for a three-point play. But once again, the Eagles couldn’t put any more distance between themselves and the Lakers, and went into the half with the score 21-18.
Things stayed even in the third quarter, with both teams scoring just eight points each. Place accounted for all of the Laker points in the third, six of them coming on two huge 3-pointers that came from outside the NBA arc used for the Maine Red Claws instead of the closer high school 3-point line.
Windham was finally able to shake the Lakers in the fourth, outscoring Lake Region 13-7 to secure the win.
While winning is always good, Millington said exhibition games such as this one give him a good chance to evaluate his players and see where they need improvement. “Some kids showed that they can play and some showed that they have some work to do,” he said. “That’s what you’re trying to get in a holiday tournament.”
Windham’s Kyle Williams gets his game face off as he squares off against Lake Region’s Kevin Gilson at the Portland High School Holiday Hoops Classic held at the Portland Expo Wednesday afternoon. Williams had five points as the Eagles held on to top the Lakers 42-33.
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