By BUTCH HARMON
Driving on I-96 between Grand Rapids and Lansing, motorists know that they are in Portland when they see the water tower with “City of Two Rivers” painted on its side. Not only does Portland have two rivers, but it also has two pretty strong girls’ basketball programs.
Over the past decade, Class B Portland High School and Class D Portland St. Patrick have been two of the premier girls’ basketball programs in the state. The two teams regularly battle for league titles and have been known to make deep runs in the post-season tournament.
This season has been no different for the two teams that are separated by just over a mile as the crow flies. As the regular season wound down, Portland High fashioned a 14-3 overall record and was a perfect 8-0 in the CAAC White Division. St. Patrick has been equally successful this season, as the Shamrocks were tied for first place in the CMAC with rival Pewamo-Westphalia with a 12-1 league record and 16-1 overall record.
Both teams feature plenty of depth and have shown steady improvement since the beginning of the season.
“We are progressing like I thought we would,” Portland coach Ray Kimball said. “We had a great start. We beat Grand Ledge in our first game of the year, and we started out 7-0. We had a couple of key injuries then, and we played six games with only seven players. We lost a tough one to DeWitt, we lost to East Lansing by three, and we also lost to Eaton Rapids. We lost three in a row, but then we ran off seven straight wins, and we have been at full strength the last three games.”
Senior Kelsey Spitzley leads the way for the Raiders this season. Spitzley, who has committed to play at Aquinas College next season, has led the team in scoring all season. Niikki Green is a three-year varsity player and two-year starter who has also provided plenty of offense for the Raiders. The team has also received strong efforts from juniors Allison Russell and Madison Adams.
Senior Madison King has been a key addition to the team. A transfer from Lakewood, King is the second-leading scorer on the team.
The Raiders are getting the job done this year, despite a lack of height. “This is the first time in nine years we don’t have a 6-foot kid on the team,” Kimball said.
But the lack of height has not held the Raiders back. “We work hard defensively and compete on the backboards,” Kimball said. “We try to push the tempo and run the floor. We also don’t turn the ball over a lot.”
That style of play has led to plenty of success for the Raiders. “This is my ninth year, and we’re awfully pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish,” Kimball said. “We’ve won six district titles in a row and have made a couple of appearances in the state semifinals. We have also won seven out of the last eight league titles, and we’ve already clinched a share of this year’s title so it’s eight out of nine.”
St. Patrick has utilized a similar formula on the court and has enjoyed plenty of success. Veteran head coach Al Schrauben, who was recently named girls’ basketball coach of the year by the National High School Coaches Association, has guided the Shamrocks to district titles in 13 out of the last 14 years. The team has made 10 trips to the state finals in the last 20 years.
Center Courtney Dixon is leading the way for the Shamrocks this season,averaging 11 points and seven rebounds per game. Dani Simon is a returning guard who anchors the backcourt along with Jennifer Bosworth, who provides plenty of offense from the perimeter.
“We are a pretty deep team and have good athletes,” Schrauben said. “Defensively, we get after it pretty good with our press. We don’t have anyone averaging over 11 points per game, but we’ve got a lot of people who can score.”
The Shamrocks are a senior-laden team this year, with seven of the top eight players being seniors. Those seniors have a history of success, as they helped the team advance to the state semifinals last March.
Schrauben says that the cause of the success of the program is not a secret. “It’s our work ethic as much as anything. Our girls work hard, and we also have unselfish play. The girls start playing in our fifth- and sixth-grade program. They also see success of the girls before them, either relatives who have played, if not sisters. They see the tradition the program has had and that is certainly helpful.”
The formula is similar to the one at Portland High School.
“We have a very strong youth program,” Kimball said. “We started our youth program about 15 years ago. We start with third- and fourth-grade teams. We also have a lot of girls who have had older sisters play and the young kids want to be successful, too.”
Tradition has helped to make Portland the city of two fine girls’ basketball programs.