SOUTH PORTLAND – The South Portland boys basketball team improved to 9-3 on the season Friday night after knocking off the Gorham Rams (2-10), 38-37, in a nail-biter at South Portland High School. Ben Burkey lead the way for the Riots, contributing over a third of the team’s points, scoring a game-high 13 in the effort while the Riots’ Jordan Muller added 10 of his own. Carter Bowers did all he could for Gorham in the losing effort, leading his team with 10 points in the loss.

It had been a week since the Red Riots suffered an agonizing defeat at the hands of the Portland Bulldogs that left coach Phil Conley praising his team’s full 32-minute effort. The Riots responded to Conley’s admiration with a solid bounce-back win against Marshwood (7-5) last week. On Friday night, it was the Riots’ turn to start another winning streak with their final six games coming against some of the league’s best, including two against the 9-2 Cheverus Stags.

On paper, the Riots looked as if their contest with the Rams was a mere stepping-stone before entering their toughest stretch of the season. The Rams had other thoughts.

“I thought Gorham worked extremely hard tonight,” said Conley. “We had to battle for everything we got, possession by possession, and we didn’t shoot the ball very well.”

The Rams, who have struggled to compete against teams with winning records this season, turned the tables on the Riots as they got off to a fast start.

Bowers knocked down a 3-pointer while the Rams’ Nate Moody was able to contribute 3 of his own to help the Rams take an early lead. The Riots’ early shooting woes allowed Gorham to take a slim 10-8 lead heading into the second quarter.

“We scrap, that’s what we do,” said Gorham coach Ryan Chicoine, who saw his team play with an abundance of confidence for the first eight minutes coming off a 19-point, 51-32 win over Westbrook the previous Monday.

The Riots snapped out of their funk in the second quarter, as Burkey did most of his damage. Burkey scored eight of his points in the quarter by dominating the interior against a smaller Ram front line.

Burkey’s performance, coupled with a combination of poor Gorham shooting and stingy South Portland defense, allowed the Riots to erase their miniscule two-point deficit and swing the game back in their favor. The Riots scored 12 points in the quarter while holding the Rams to just one field goal by Dan Holmes and a free throw by Kyle Nealy to take a 20-13 lead into halftime.

It certainly was not the prettiest of halves for the Riots, but after dominating the second quarter it seemed as though it was only a matter of time before South Portland pulled away down the stretch.

“We got up early because we were doing the things we were asked to do,” said Chicoine, “then we started to get a little frantic. They try to do too much, they try to take it on all by themselves and they can’t. You can’t win as one player.”

It looked as if the Riots were going to slam the door shut early in the second half as Muller got hot from the floor, burying a quick 3 before knocking down a contested runner to put his team up by 14 early in third quarter. Still, the Rams continued to fight.

“We settled down, we had to believe in each other and made the extra pass and got easy layups,” Conley said.

Despite the Riots’ quick second-half start, the Rams were able to settle down on the defensive end, allowing Bowers to will his team back into the contest by scoring seven points in the quarter. Still, it was not enough as the Rams failed to narrow their deficit heading into the fourth.

The Riots were able to rely on the defensive effort of their bench to preserve the lead, especially Connor MacVayne.

“We had some guys who needed to play tonight for other reasons, but I was pleased that the guys who came off the bench played as hard as they did,” said Conley. “I’m very impressed with (MacVayne), he’s become a lockdown defender for us.”

In the fourth quarter, the Riots appeared to sit on their lead and began to take fouls to allow the Rams to creep back. The Rams were able to crawl to within three points with just 2:52 to play after converting on four consecutive free throws, forcing Conley to take a timeout to refocus his squad.

The Rams then pulled to within one, setting up one last chance to win the game with 19.6 seconds remaining.

“You can’t ask for a better shot. A guys falls down and we get a 10-foot, wide open jumper,” said Chicoine.

The Rams’ last ditch effort rattled in and out before a last-second tip hung on the edge of the rim before falling out as time expired.

“It hung on the rim and I thought it was in,” said Conley referring to the game’s last play.

While the Riots certainly had a scare put into them by the Rams Friday night, Conley was able to remain positive about the game’s outcome.

“I think good teams find ways to win then they don’t play well,” said Conley, “and I think we’re a good team.”