It’s something coaches often say, like “you have to play one game at a time,” or “they wanted it more.”

“In our league, anybody can beat anybody.” Every year, when we get to mid-February and we dive into the basketball state tournaments, we hear that over and over. Inevitably, the top seeds work their way through the brackets. Maybe they get tested in close games, but they win.

Except on the Class A South boys side. This year, that hackneyed anybody-can-beat-anybody business? It’s true.

The regional final will be played Saturday night at Cross Insurance Arena between No. 6 Portland and No. 5 Cheverus. It’ll be the first time that the South final for the largest schools doesn’t include at least one of the top two seeds.

After his team lost a regular-season game to Sanford in late January at the Portland Expo, Portland coach Joe Russo said he didn’t think there’s a team in the SMAA his squad couldn’t beat. And here the Bulldogs are, proving their veteran coach right.

Thursday night, Portland knocked off No. 2 Sanford in the semifinals, 61-51. The Bulldogs already owned a 34-33 quarterfinal win over No. 3 South Portland. They won’t get a chance to add No. 1 Windham to the collection, because No. 8 Scarborough took care of the 2024 and 2025 Class AA champion, beating the Eagles 66-62 in overtime in the quarterfinals.

“It’s a really tough league, one though eight, but (with) Kennebunk, Falmouth, it was really one through 11,” Russo said after Thursday’s win. “If you’re not ready, you’re ousted.”

When so little separates a top seed from a team that eked into the tournament, it’s the little things that make a difference. After his team’s 68-59 win over Scarborough in Thursday’s second semifinal, Cheverus coach Richie Ashley said it’s coming down to his team and Portland for a simple reason.

“We’re playing together, finally. Everybody’s injury free, finally, knock on wood,” he said, tapping the side of his head. “We have the starters together now, and that’s kind of helped us get to where we are now.”

Cheverus controlled the boards against the Red Storm, as well as in Saturday’s win over No. 4 Thornton Academy, said senior Jameson Fitzpatrick. To him, the positive energy his team emits is a factor, and that’s something the Stags have built since November. When the big moment comes, they’re not gathered in and swallowed whole.

What’s propelled the Bulldogs in the postseason is defense. Quick, tenacious, pester you like five little brothers from baseline to baseline defense. It helped that Thursday, 6-foot-7 senior center Benilson Lumani, who missed the regular-season game against Sanford, was a human headwind in the paint for the Bulldogs, blocking shots into press row and daring the Spartans to go into the paint.

“That’s what we take our pride in. You know, we start out hard on defense,” said Portland senior guard Loic Ramazani, who plays at the pace of a caffeinated hummingbird and had four steals in Thursday’s win. “Having Benilson, it scares people. People are scared to take the shot, scared to be driving on him. I feel like he’s our big key. Sometimes he doesn’t get those big blocks, but him being there is such a big help.”

Advancing to the regional final as a No. 6 seed is nice, Russo said, but there’s another game Saturday night that will require a supreme defensive effort. The Bulldogs need to keep pushing, he said. Ashley echoed the sentiment.

“It’s the teams that are playing the best. We know Portland is playing really, really well. They had a big win today, and we played well,” Ashley said. “In high school basketball, anything can happen. You see it all the time.”

Except you don’t. More often than not, the seeds hold. This season in Class A South, though, the cliché came true.