Portal teetered on the brink of elimination from the Class A state playoffs last weekend, but star guard Stacy Morgan had grown tired of postseason disappointment.
    A junior this season, Morgan was on the court for the Panthers' first round playoff losses in both 2011 and 2012.
    Morgan jolted Portal back to life with three 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter as he helped to turn a 12-point deficit into a 77-68 win over Marion County and Portal's first trip to the Elite Eight since 2008.
    "When Stacy gets going, the rest of the team usually follows," Portal coach Jeff Brannen said. "We were struggling for a while in that game and it just seemed like nothing was going right for us. It was big for Stacy to stay calm and make some shots to get us back in the game."
    The Panthers trailed Mitchell County in the final three minutes Wednesday night in the GHSA Class A Elite Eight, and it was back-to-back 3-pointers by Morgan that gave Portal the lead for good.
    Morgan finished with a team-leading 23 points.
    Mitchell missed a potential game-winning 3 at the buzzer to propel the Panthers to the second Final Four in the program's history.

    Before the 2012-13 season tipped off back in November, Bulloch Academy's Anna Newton was already certain that her senior season would be the best yet for the Lady Gators.
    Without being too cocky, BA's star forward stated that she thought that this year's Lady Gators had the talent to take a state title.
    So far, so good.
    Newton led Bulloch with 13 points in last week's 54-30 Elite Eight romp over Calvary Christian and will head up the Gators once more in tonight's Final Four matchups against Tattnall Square.
    The Gators advanced all the way to the Class AA championship game in Newton's freshman year. Now playing her final games for Bulloch — which has since moved to Class AAA — she is determined to reach the top of the mountain.
    "I know that we have a lot of talent on this team," Newton said. "This year's team has a lot of girls who have been in big games and who have been deep in the playoffs. I think that we all know that a state championship is possible if we play our best."