The Portal boys’ basketball team continues to try and take steps in the right direction as head coach Jeff Brannen looks to find replacements for all five starters from last year’s 28-2 team. Tuesday night they took a step in the right direction as they hung on to beat Screven County 55-54 in Portal.
The Panthers showed promise and inexperience Tuesday. They looked impressive when they went on an eight-point run in the fourth quarter to take a 48-39 lead. They then looked shaky as they allowed the Gamecocks climb all the way back and had to survive a missed layup at the buzzer to hold on for the victory.
“We are young and we are learning as we play,” said Portal coach Jeff Brannen. “Every game we are trying to make strides in the right direction. Our young guys are being thrown into the fire. Sometimes they will make freshman mistakes and sometimes they will step up.”
Clinging to a one-point lead with just over five minutes to play Brian McQueen buried a corner three-pointer to push the lead to 44-39. Zion Lanier then drove the lane for a three-point play as he hit a layup and was fouled to push the lead to 48-39 with 4:20 left in the game.
Screven came back to cut the lead to 52-49 but freshman Zeke Percell hit a three-pointer from the corner to push the Portal lead to 55-49 with :40 seconds to play. Kashard Prescott would then drive in for a layup to make it 55-51. Portal next turned the ball over and Jase Hughes hit a three-pointer to make it a one-point ballgame with 20 seconds left in the game.
The Gamecocks fouled C.J. Harden with just over 10 seconds to go. Harden missed both free throws and Screven County had a chance to win the game, but Rodney Beckworth missed a contested layup as time expired giving Portal the victory.
“There are a few things that we need to really get back to working on like rebounding,” Brannen said. “I like the grit and the fight we showed tonight. We were probably out-manned at every position but we showed fight and resiliency and I like our effort.”
The Panthers improve to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in region play. Portal was led by Lanier with 16 points while McQueen added 14. Screven County was paced by Beckworth with 18 points.
In the girls contest Portal hung around for most of the first half before the Gamecocks put things away with a 16-2 run in the second half as they would win 68-38. Portal had trouble with turnovers throughout the game and in particular in the second half.
“We are almost there,” said coach Nicole Newton. “I didn’t expect us to be playoff-ready in the first few games. We have a new cast and we have to work them in. Once we learn how to close teams out, we will be just fine.”
Newton was frustrated with the play of some of her starters and decided to give some younger players some time on the court in the second half.
“If players aren’t doing what the coaches are asking, we have to move on,” Newton said. “We need kids out there with the intestinal fortitude that want to rebound and play physical. We had a couple players in a little foul trouble but it was more about the players understanding what we are looking from them.”
Newton is hoping the team will begin to gel over the next month as from January on it will all be region play.
Portal falls to 1-2 and 0-1 in region play. They were led in scoring by Alyssa King with eight points while Jaliah Roberts led Screven with 18 points. Up next Portal will be at Bryan County for a doubleheader Friday beginning at 6:00.
