For the fourth straight year the Portal Panthers have punched their ticket to the Class-A Elite-8. Saturday afternoon the Panthers held off a late charge from Early County before winning 54-50.

Over the past 10 games the Panthers have breezed past their competition winning by an average margin of 79-41. It looked as though Portal was about to do the same to the Bobcats as their pressure defense helped them to a 10-point first half lead. Early County battled back in the fourth to take a short-lived one-point lead before the Panthers went on a late run to win by four.

“I thought we really gutted out a win tonight,” said coach Jeff Brannen. “I thought we forced a lot of shots on offense and we didn’t run our plays. Defensively we did just enough to win. We got important rebounds and made free throws when we had to.”

The Panthers were just 12-23 from the free throw line, but senior Amir Jackson made 4-4 down the stretch in the fourth to help decide the game. For the third-straight game Elijah Coleman led the way for the Panthers as he had 24 points while Joseph Thomas added 17 points. They were also the only two Panthers in double figures, which is something Brannen feels has to change if Portal is to make a run at the state title.

“We have five starters who all average double figures,” Brannen said. “Elijah has stepped it up and Joe is doing well, but we need everyone to play in order to be successful. It seems some of the other guys are standing around and we need them to be more active.”

The win improves the Panther’s record to 28-1. Up next Portal plays on the road at Warren County who are the No. 1 seed from Region-8. The Screaming Devils are 22-5 and are coming off a 64-56 win over Christian Heritage.