Lebanon vs. Portsmouth DII – 2nd Quarter Analysis

On Saturday, the boys basketball division two state championship game featured the number one ranked Portsmouth Clippers and the number two ranked Lebanon Raiders. Every day this week we will be breaking down each quarter with a special wrap up on Friday.

After the first quarter the score was Portsmouth nine, Lebanon three. Both teams had shot poorly so far but Lebanon especially as they had only made one basket out of 12 attempts. Lebanon would have to dig their way out of a six point hole if they wanted any chance of beating the Clippers in the second half.

Right as the second quarter began, almost immediately Lebanon’s Jake Hansen gets fouled.

He would hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to five. Less than a minute later Portsmouth’s Cody Graham nails a three pointer that extends his team’s lead to 8 with a score of 12 to 4. Lebanon guard KJ Matte quickly answered by driving to the basket and getting fouled in the process.

After Romeo Ingram of Portsmouth gets fouled and hits both of his free throws, the score is 14 to 6. Over the next four minutes the Raiders would go on a much needed 8 and 0 run to tie the game at 14-14. With a minute and a half to go in the second quarter, Portsmouth would score three points to take a 17 to 14 lead heading into halftime.

Lebanon outscored Portsmouth 11 to 8 in the second quarter while shooting 4 for 10 from the field, a much better percentage than the first quarter. Both teams have struggled shooting three pointers as they combined to shoot just 1 for 18 behind the arc during the first half. This has clearly been a game of defense from both underneath the basket and from outside the arc.

The Raiders put forth a much better effort to narrow the lead to just three points but will it be enough to take down number one ranked Clippers? Tune in Wednesday as we break down the third quarter of this exciting undefeated championship matchup.