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PORTLAND — The Cheverus girls basketball team won both of its games against South Portland during the regular season. But that’s not the way the Stags looked at it.

To them, the Red Riots were the team that prevented them from winning a state championship last season. And presented with a chance to earn some payback, the Stags took advantage.

Kylie Lamson scored 19 points, Abby Kelly and Addie Jordan led a swarming and hustling defense, and top-ranked Cheverus advanced to another state final with a 46-35 win over No. 3 South Portland in the Class A South championship game Saturday night at Cross Insurance Arena.

The Stags (20-1) earned their third straight trip to the state finals and their fourth in five years. Cheverus, which won Class AA titles in 2022 and 2024, will play Hampden Academy next Saturday at Cross Insurance Arena.

“Coming out and beating them, staying strong, winning every single quarter because of our defense, it’s an unbelievable feeling after them beating us the same way,” Lamson said. “The whole time, (we were thinking about) the state game last year. We didn’t want to feel like that again.”

The Red Riots (18-3) downed Cheverus 54-48 in the AA final last season. On Saturday, however, the Stags took control early and never let it go.

“We’ve been working on trying to be a more balanced team,” said coach Bill Goodman, who also got 10 points from freshman Kristin King. “Yes, we need Kylie, but we’ve got to get the other players involved. I believe all that hard work paid off today.”

The Stags’ defense was stifling. Cheverus players closed out on South Portland shooters, holding the Red Riots to 3-for-19 shooting (15.7%) from 3-points range, and won battles for rebounds and loose balls.

The easy transition baskets and putbacks from last year were nowhere to be found for South Portland. Annie Whitmore, one of the state’s best players, scored only two points, and those came in the final three minutes.

“(The keys were) not (giving up) as many rebounds, not letting as many 3s happen, and talking, because we had a lot of miscommunication last year,” said Kelly, who grabbed eight rebounds.

Goodman said that’s been the theme since last year’s defeat.

“We had to rotate, hustle, and know our jobs,” he said. “(We focus) on it every day, every day, until it’s a final product.”

Offense was harder to find, but the Stags got it when they needed it. When South Portland’s Avery Vincent cut the deficit to 27-23 with a putback with 1:55 to go in the third quarter, Anna Goodman (six points) hit a 3-pointer on the next possession.

After Caleigh Corcoran followed with a jumper, Jordan (four points, 10 rebounds) knocked down a 3, pushing the lead to eight. The Red Riots never got closer than seven points.

“That was definitely a time where me, Kylie and everyone looked at each other and were like ‘No, we’re not letting this happen,'” Anna Goodman said. “We wanted this to be our game.”

The Stags got more than enough offense from Lamson, a Miss Maine semifinalist who scored 11 points in the first half as Cheverus built a 25-17 lead. Lamson was held to nine points in the teams’ previous matchup but was more active Saturday, working around and setting screens to get freed up.

“We knew going into this game that it’s always hard to beat a team three times,” she said. “It’s definitely an amazing feeling.”

South Portland got 10 points from Caleigh Corcoran and eight from Mya Lawrence.

“I thought the girls never stopped playing hard, never stopped battling,” coach Brianne Maloney said. “We missed our chances to execute on some big plays that we could have had and gave the ball back to them in moments where I felt like we had the ball rolling.”