PORTLAND – It was the game that most people thought they couldn’t win.

On Saturday night, the No. 7 South Portland boys basketball team went into a Class A West quarterfinal game against No. 2 Portland with a lot going against them. The Riots had struggled against top teams all season, and the Bulldogs had knocked the Riots out of the playoffs last season.

But none of that mattered on Saturday night at the Portland Expo as the Riots erased a big deficit and held on to shock the Bulldogs, 39-37.

The win propels the Riots into the semifinals where they will take on No. 3 Bonny Eagle on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

For most of the first three quarters of the game, which was played in front of a huge crowd despite the late 9:30 p.m. start, Portland was in control of the contest, taking leads of as much as 11 points.

But the Riots were determined to show that they belonged among the top teams in the tournament and took advantage of the opportunities the Bulldgos gave them, finally grabbing the lead with 5:24 left to go in regulagtion when Jack Tolan hit a huge layup to put South Portland uo, 34-32.

The teams traded leads for a few possesions, but thanks to strong play from Jordan Muller, Logan Gaddar, Conner MacVane and Tanner Hyland, the Riots were able to hold on to a two-point lead as the ime ticked away.

The win didn’t come easy though, with 24.3 seconds left, the Riots lost the ball out of bounds, and after a time out, Portland had a shot to tie or win it. But a missed layup by the Bulldogs’ Jayvon Pitts-Young kept the Riots in front and then the Bulldogs missed two 3-point attempts as the clock wound down and when the buzzer sounded, the Riots players and coaches stormed the court to celebrate what could easily turn out to be the upset win of the tournament.

For more on the Riots’ big win, see this week’s edition of The Current.