SOPERTON — Portal put up a valiant effort in a 59-46 loss to Emanuel County Institute in the girls basketball GHSA region 3-A playoffs Tuesday afternoon.
    The Lady Panthers (10-17, 5-7, down by 10 points at halftime, battled back in the fourth quarter behind the effort of seniors Chandalier Morgan and Breyonna Raymond.
    However, ECI scored 17 points in the final five minutes of the game to move onto the next round.
    “We gave up too many second-chance shots. I thought we battled back though and cut it to one but we didn’t clean up the boards and clean up the little things,” said Lady Panthers head coach Tendai Higgins. “We have to play better man-to-man defense. (Tazha Williams) just took over the game in the second half and she wanted it more than us.”
    The Lady Bulldogs built a 23-13 lead at halftime and led 38-27 after the third quarter. Tazha Williams paced the Lady Bulldogs scoring a game-high 30 points. Williams took advantage of the free-throw line, scoring 11 of her 30 points from the charity stripe.
    Portal started the fourth quarter on an 11-4 run. Morgan, who finished the game with 15 points, started the Lady Panthers momentum in the fourth quarter with a three from the wing.
    A few possessions later, Raymond hit a three to cut ECI’s lead to 42-38. Raymond would later find Aleaha Wiggins inside the paint on a fast break to trim the deficit to 42-40.
    “The effort and the heart was there. We just couldn’t clean it up and get the loose balls at the end,” Higgins said.
    ECI got to the foul line late, putting the game away.
    Tuesday’s loss marked the end a high school basketball career for seniors Morgan, Raymond, Tiffany Coleman, Uniqua Mosley and Tiffany Harlow. Harlow, who sat out the second half of the season due to a leg injury, did not play in her final game against ECI.
    “It hurts. It hurts to see it come to an end. We put forth a lot of effort,” Morgan said after a tough loss. “Next year, this team will come as a whole and play together since me and (Breyonna Raymond) were the leading scorers.”
    Raymond accomplished a career milestone in her senior year at Portal, scoring 1,000 points as a Lady Panther.
    Raymond said the loss was tough, but enjoyed the fact her and her teammates fought hard in their final game of the season.
    “I hate to see it end of course, but no one can say we didn’t put forth our all. Either way it goes, I’ll go off to college and play ball, but I’ll always come back to Portal and support my community,” Raymond said, who scored a team-high 19 points in her final game.
    Raymond and Morgan both thanked assistant coach Cliff Hubbard for being there in their basketball careers.
    “He’s the best coach I’ve ever had,” Raymond said.
    Next year, the Lady Panthers will be led by Dashonda Morgan, Arieanna Wiggins and Aleaha Wiggins.
    Coach Haggins said the Lady Panthers will still need to increase their participation numbers.
    “We need to get some more bodies out. Right now I have two eighth-graders coming up and they are going to have to come in and contribute right away. We’re going to have to beat the halls of the school and find some more young ladies that want to come out and play basketball,” Haggins said.

    Horace Holloman may be reached at (912) 489-9408.