PORTAL — It took all night for the Portal Panthers to finally take a lead.
    Once they got it, they weren’t letting go.
    After trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half, Portal (7-2) rallied hard down the stretch, taking the lead with 24.5 seconds to play and holding tough on defense to notch an 82-78 victory over Bryan County Saturday night at the Portal Holiday Classic tournament.
    “This was a great game and a great win,” Portal coach Jeff Brannen said. “Our guys really had to fight the whole way. We had to show a lot of toughness with being behind against such a good team, so our character really showed through.”
    Despite being within just a few points of the Redskins (9-1) for most of the fourth quarter, the Panthers’ final push to gain the advantage was agonizingly slow.
    Trent Thomas (30 points) connected in transition to pull Portal within 72-68 with 3:17 to play. A three-point play from Thomas on the next possession got the Panthers within 73-71.
    Tyler Budgett cut the Panthers’ deficit to a single point with just over two minutes to go.
    Twice after Budgett’s bucket, the Redskins were able to answer. Both times, Portal cut it back to a single point margin again.
    “We had to have a lot of mental toughness,” Brannen said. “It’s hard when you’re trying to come back and a team keeps hitting shots. We really had to focus to get it done down the stretch.”
    Portal finally had the ball with a chance to tie in the final minute. Thomas had a look at a layup, but couldn’t get it to fall.
    Instead of fouling, the Panthers dropped back on defense and came up with a steal when Jeremy McClendon (18 points) tried to drive through a double team.
    Akeem Oglesby (13 points) came up with the loose ball and drove into the Bryan County lane. A defender attempted to draw the charge, but Oglesby contorted his body around the defender and drilled his layup while drawing a whistle.
    Oglesby’s ensuing free throw touched nothing but net and the Panthers had their lead at 79-78 with 24.5 seconds to go.
    “I saw the defender waiting for Akeem,” Brannen said. “I was screaming for him to pull up and shoot a 3, but he made a great play.”
    Bryan County’s next possession ended when Thomas intercepted a lob pass into the lane that was intended for A.J. Simmons.  After being fouled, Thomas brought the Portal lead to 81-78 with a pair of free throws.
    The Redskins’ last gasp came with 7.1 seconds to play. Kajana Dixon received an inbound pass and elevated over two Portal defenders for a 3-point attempt, but his was just a bit off to the right. Thomas corralled the rebound and hit one more free throw with one second remaining to seal the win.
    Early on, it didn’t look like the night would come to such a happy end for Portal.
    The Panthers have made a habit of coming out hot in big games so far this season, but couldn’t buy an early shot against the Redskins.
    McClendon canned a pair of 3’s in the opening period and Dixon nailed another to stake Bryan County to an early lead. Portal wasn’t able to immediately strike back as it missed all four of its attempts from behind the arc in the first quarter and missed its first six from long range overall.
    The Panthers finally found their footing in the second quarter and used a pair of dunks by Thomas to claim some momentum. But — in a trend that lasted until the final seconds of play — every time the Panthers got within a point or two of pulling even, a Redskin was waiting with a big shot to rebuild the lead.
    “It’s tough to keep going when a team answers all of your big shots like that,” Brannen said. “I was really impressed with the heart we showed. Playing on our home floor in front of our students and community, I think you could tell just how bad our guys wanted to win this one.”
    Along with Thomas’ offensive explosion and Oglesby’s late heroics, the Panthers got 19 points from D’Von Moore and 14 from Budgett — including a pair of 3’s in the third quarter that brought life back to the Panther bench after Bryan County had amassed its biggest lead of the night.
    Portal will take today off before concluding its tournament Monday with a 7:30 p.m. game against Vidalia.

    Mike Anthony may be reached at (912) 489-9408.