Porter ready to help Raiders make a run at state

RAPID CITY — For half a century Rapid City Central has produced dozens of Native ballplayers, but there were few Natives playing for Rapid City Stevens. In the last ten years, that has changed with Stevens producing players like Mason Archambault, Jacob Martin, and Lexus Eagle Chasing. As of this writing, the Stevens Girls are 11-2, having just defeated crosstown rival Central, 67-39. The main cog in the Raider success is 5-10 senior forward Taaliyah Porter. Like a lot of Native ball players Porter is quick, she can dribble and shoot, but she is also strong and successful battling in the paint, and she is the spark that ignites team chemistry.

Porter’s talents began to blossom in the midst of the Covid pandemic. She was worthy of notice as a freshman, but the Class of 2025 took a media ding at that time, the usual scrutiny and praise normal for a player of Porter’s caliber did not happen. The Raiders have only two seniors on their squad, both Native, the other being Brittany Jones, a 5-6 guard, who is also Porter’s best friend, and along with 5-9 junior Halle Peterson, they are the three team captains. This makes Porter’s leadership and experience even more important to a relatively young team.

The two losses on the Raider record have been by a combined total of five points. The Raiders have a legitimate shot at a state championship.

Porter developed her game by playing first for her mom’s (Leona Means) YMCA team, and then later for her dad’s (Quintrell Porter) traveling basketball team. She developed varsity level skill by the time she reached middle school. Like many gifted players Porter is focused on her game, on and off the court. This she understands and articulates well, but questions about her favorite TV show, or flavor of ice cream, or what she wants to be when she grows up, are not something you feel necessary when talking to Porter. You can hardly fit all the insights she has about the game into the story.

“We kinda knew the head coach at Stevens,” Porter said. “He had seen me play a little bit. At the start of my Eighth Grade year, we were working out at Rapid Skillz, and he brought it up to me.”

What he brought up was the prospect of Porter playing for the Stevens varsity even though she was in middle school.

“A lot of people had to sign specific papers in order for me to try out,” Porter said. Eighth Grade participation on the Class AA level is very rare, and if Porter was allowed to play for Stevens she could only play on the varsity, and that meant she either made the varsity team, or she couldn’t play for Stevens.

“That was one of my stronger years,” Porter said. “Most of the girls were really strong leaders, and most of the stuff I learned that Eighth Grade year, I still carry with me today. I came off the bench. I was mostly just a guard because we had plenty of bigs at that time.”

What makes the 5-10 sturdily constructed Porter unique is she can move like a guard and attack the lane like a power forward. She is too big for most guards to guard, and too agile for most bigs to contain. Stevens was expected to handle visiting Watertown, but Watertown didn’t drive all the way across the state to be a patsy. They had a half dozen big, strong girls and they imposed themselves on Stevens, jumping out to nearly a 20 point lead, and Porter could hardly get a touch, let alone get off a shot.

“After they got the lead, I knew I had to score,” Porter said. “Our scoring gives us a spark, that gets us back into the game, especially the younger girls, because things more so get into their head. We got everyone calm, and then we started doing the little things that mattered. I think it’s important when I drive, and they start collapsing, it gives my teammates open shots. If they start hitting their shots it will be hard for them to put three people on one person.”

When asked for the details of how they came back, Porter is quiet for a moment, piecing the events into something she could share: “It is easier for most of our girls if Hallie Peterson gets a rebound, and all our guards can just run their lanes, because (the other team) is too focused on trying to stop me from getting the ball in transition. So, guards like Brittany Jones and Finley Love, they’ll be able to score, and it’s the spark for us, because (v Watertown) we finally started playing our game. We had players that came off the bench and gave us the energy we needed on the court.”

Every team has a group personality, and some teams start quickly, and some start slowly, and for whatever reason the Raiders are slow starters. Head Coach Adam Dannebring has prepared his team to where they are within a bucket as good as any team, and to get one bucket more than the other team, they have to overcome their slow starts, and Porter will be the key figure in eliminating that weakness. Not only because of her play, but because she has a boat load of something high school players struggle to keep—confidence.

“When we played Sturgis,” Porter said, “that game wasn’t the best for me. My shots weren’t going in. I think that was a big time when I lacked confidence. I just have so much support around me, people that help me not to get down on myself.” The Raiders came back and won, 60-33.

Ahead is Taaliyah Porter’s last chance to help her school win a state title. The Raiders have played every team tough, and they know when things aren’t going well that they have what it takes to fight their way back into the game. West River kids don’t get the same college looks East River kids do, but Stevens has the team they could not ignore at state.

(Contact James Giago Davies at skindiesel@msn.com)

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