PORTAL — A three-pointer by Tyler Budgett off the opening tip and then a monstrous slam from Trent Thomas opened the game for the Portal Panthers as they raced out to an early lead and never looked back,  cruising to a 78-58 win over Taylor County the opening round of the Class A state playoffs.
    “We were able to come out early and hit some shots and got everyone in to the flow of the game,” Panthers Head Coach Jeff Brannen said.
    Portal (21-7) raced out to a 17-4 lead late in the first quarter behind a suffocating defense that forced several Vikings turnovers leading to easy baskets.
    “We took their heart out of the game early,” said Thomas, who ended the night with 14 points including being on the receiving end of several ally-oop passes. “We just did what we’ve done all year and played hard and played as a team.”
    Portal came in to the night with four players averaging in double figures and Saturday was no exception with Budgett, Thomas, Akeem Olglesby and D’Von Moore each scoring 14 or more points.
    The Vikings (16-13) closed the gap to 11 points at the end of the first quarter, but were never able to ever cut the lead to single digits as Portal’s defense created all kinds of problems for Taylor County.
    “We played really well on defense and we handled the ball well,” Brannen said. “Taylor County put a lot of pressure on our backcourt and we did a good job of breaking their press.”
    Once Portal broke the press, they were able to get easy baskets, especially behind the arc where the Panthers connected on eight 3-point shots.
    While Portal was able to get open shots, Taylor County consistently had trouble with Portal’s ball pressure leading to several turnovers and easy baskets.
    Midway through the fourth quarter the Panthers were able to extend their lead to 30 on a basket by Moore who finished with 15 points. Oglesby led the Panthers with 22 points, including 16 in the first half.
    With the win, Portal returns to the Elite Eight where their season ended last year.
    “We just have to keep doing what we’ve doing all year,” Brannen said of the next round. “We just have to keep playing hard and playing as a team.
    They’ll face the winner of Lanier County and Greenville on Wednesday.