Annie Whitmore of South Portland drives toward the basket as Rachel Feeley of Cheverus plays defense during the Red Riots' 59-47 victory. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

SOUTH PORTLAND — Before Friday night’s game with Cheverus, South Portland girls basketball coach Brianne Maloney pointed out to her players that they hadn’t beaten the Stags before.

They have now.

Mya Lawrence scored 15 points, Emma Travis added 13, and South Portland rallied from a miserable offensive performance in the first half to defeat Cheverus, 59-47. It’s the first victory for the Red Riots (13-3) over the Stags since 2020, and avenges a 57-47 loss in their previous matchup on Dec. 17.

“Our coach said ‘Remember the last time you beat Cheverus?’ And there was a pause, because we had never beaten Cheverus,” Lawrence said. “It was the biggest game for us, and we came out and brought the energy.”

Cheverus (11-5) got 12 points from Kylie Lamson and eight apiece from Rachel Feeley, Abby Kelly and freshman Holly Irahoza, but had to battle early foul trouble for Lamson and let a 21-15 halftime lead slip away while she was on the bench.

How’d they do it?

• South Portland couldn’t have played much worse offensively in the first half, as a 6-of-34 (18%) shooting performance from the field and 10 turnovers led to the six-point deficit. But the Red Riots found their rhythm in the third quarter, shooting 10 of 16 from the floor, including four 3-pointers. They made 10 of their last 12 attempts, and led 41-33 after three quarters.

• After being held scoreless in the first half, Lawrence scored 10 of South Portland’s 26 third-quarter points.

• The Red Riots outrebounded the Stags 10-5 in the third and were able to turn those boards into transition baskets.

Key moments

• With seven minutes to go in the third, Lamson, the Stags’ high-scoring guard, went to the bench with her third foul and the Stags up 21-17. She returned with 3:38 left, but the Red Riots went on a 12-3 run in her absence.

• After Lawrence made it a one-point game with a 3-pointer with 6:40 to go in the third, Destiny Peter gave South Portland the lead for good at 24-21 with a pair of transition baskets.

What it means

South Portland, in third place in Class AA South Heal points to begin the day, leapfrogged Gorham and Sanford into first and earned the kind of quality win that can pay dividends with the playoffs fast approaching.

Statistical leaders

Cheverus: Kylie Lamson (12 points), Rachel Feeley (eight points), Abby Kelly (eight points), Holly Irahoza (eight points), Addie Jordan (seven points, nine rebounds)

South Portland: Mya Lawrence (15 points), Emma Travis (13 points), Annie Whitmore (11 points), Destiny Peter (11 points, nine rebounds), Caleigh Corcoran (nine rebounds).

They said it

“It’s kind of just shown how much we’ve grown as a team since that first game. We’ve just gotten so much better as a whole team, not just our starting five.” — Mya Lawrence

“That’s who we are as a team. It can’t just be one of us. It has to be all five of us out there, contributing.” — Emma Travis, on the balanced scoring.

“A big game so close to playoffs just creates a lot of that momentum for us, and that belief that, really, anyone we match up against, we can take them.” — South Portland coach Brianne Maloney

“We played great defense in the first half, I had some girls out there in the second half that don’t know the defense too well, and it crossed us. But South Portland played great. They made the shots, they got rebounds and they deserved to win.” — Cheverus coach Bill Goodman