The Portland High School boys basketball team slowly pulled away from Oxford Hills on Saturday to defeat the defending regional champions 47-35 and win the AA North title at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
The Portland Bulldogs (16-5) will play the winner of the AA South championship game between No. 2 South Portland and No. 1 Thornton Academy in the Class AA state title game on Saturday, March 4, at 8:45 p.m.
Oxford Hills ends its season 19-2.
This is the first time the Bulldogs have won a regional championship since 2017, when they went on to beat South Portland in the state championship game, 60-38.
Oxford Hills defeated Portland twice in the regular season, 48-47 on Jan. 3 and 62-52 on Jan. 13.
Portland advanced to the finals thanks to a 46-40 win over No. 3 Lewiston in the semifinals. Lewiston had also beaten Portland twice in the regular season, 56-47 in the season opener on Dec. 9 and 39-36 on Jan. 24.
Portland beat Windham in the quarterfinals, 49-46.
