PORTAL — The Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets gave the Savannah Country Day Hornets their best shot, but it wasn’t enough.
    The Hornets erased an early 13 point deficit, then stormed ahead to take a 63-56 victory Saturday evening at the Portal Holiday Classic.
    Gary McGinty (25 points, 14 rebounds) and Heys McMath (12-17) each recorded double-doubles as they dominated the glass and scored nearly at will from inside.
    “You know its going to be a big challenge going against guys like Country day had,” said SEB coach John Page. “They were able to get us out of our zone and go man-to-man. When everyone is giving up a few inches in their matchups, it can be a problem.”
    A 9-2 run to begin the second half stretched the Hornets’ lead to 32-22 — it’s largest of the night — but SEB refused to lay down.
    Devante Tremble (21 points) and Matthew McBride (8) brought the Jackets within 38-36 by the end of the third quarter. SEB continued to nip at the Hornets’ heels, but could never quite complete the comeback.
    The Jackets were within 56-50 with 2:31 to play, but they were unable to convert on a few late steals and McGinty hit 7 of 8 free throws in the final two minutes to clinch the win.
    “I thought we fought hard to come back,” said Page. “Our guys left it all out on the floor. That’s all you can ask. Maybe if one or two of our last few shots go down, we could have had a different story.”
    Early on, it was all Yellow Jackets.
    Tremble hit three of his first four shots from beyond the arc and a few inside jumpers from Preston Smith and Kaelin Jones got SEB out to a 16-3 advantage.
    “County Day came out in a zone and we responded well,” said Page. “We moved the ball around and got some good looks to go out in front. But that’s the same thing that Country Day was able to do to us.”
    Unfortunately for the Jackets, Country Day was also able to get on a hot streak.
    McGinty broke the SEB momentum just before the end of the first quarter and began what turned into a 20-2 run for the Hornets. Ben Johnson gave Country Day its first lead of the game with a baseline jumper midway through the second quarter and the Hornets never trailed again.
    Having done most of his damage on the defensive glass in the first half, McMath started filling up the points column in the third quarter. He notched follow-up buckets on two straight possessions as he and McGinty began to impose their will.
    With the game threatening to get away from SEB early in the fourth quarter, McBride drilled a 3 to get within 44-39.
    McMath answered with another put back, but Jones hit a free throw and Corey McCollum drained a long 3 to pull within 46-43 with 5:03 to go.
    The teams went back and forth from there as the Hornets repeated gained some breathing room, only to have SEB cut back into the lead.
    After two Yellow Jacket steals and a thrown away pass by Country Day netted no SEB points, the Hornets were finally able to run away over the last minute of playing time.
    Southeast Bulloch returns to action Jan. 4 as they host New Hampstead in a non-region game.
   
    Mike Anthony may be reached at (912) 489-9404.