Statesboro- The Portal Panthers fan base filled the arena to see their teams go to battle against the Montgomery County High School Eagles in a region matchup on Tuesday night. The Lady Panthers looked to pull off an upset against the Lady Eagles. The Panthers men were riding momentum from a six-game winning streak.
Lady Panthers Drop Emotional Game to MCHS
The Portal women’s basketball team played host to the undefeated Montgomery County High School Eagles. The Lady Panthers brought the intensity to the matchup, but fell short 60-46.
After a hardfought first half, the Lady Panthers found themselves down 14 going into the second half. MIdway through the third quarter, Portal’s Raashonda Khalil and MCHS’ Marley Bell would get into it and the teams were sent to their benches. Double techs were handed out and play continued. A few moments of play later, MCHS’ Amire Bell would slap the floor while defending Portal’s Glen Lowe before getting a steal and racing down the other end for a layup. Lowe would respond with tough defense and a three pointer. The two senior guards would talk trash to one another before more techs were handed out.
The two incidents gave the Lady Panthers a small boost as they turned up the defensive intensity and started to hit shots. A short run helped the Lady Panthers cut the lead to nine late in the third quarter. The run ended when Glen Lowe committed her fifth foul and had to leave the game. Amire Bell would later get ejected when she received a second technical foul for taunting.
Portal women’s basketball head coach, Nicole Newton, liked how her team responded to what was happening on the court. “I do not condone violence, but this is probably the first time that my team showed that kind of fight,” Newton said. “For so long the girl’s team has been down and I’m just so proud of how they responded. They did it on the court the right way.”
Freshman London Blackmon led Portal in scoring with 17 points. Tiara Kingsberry also poured in 11 points including a trio of shots from three.
The Lady Eagles were led by their seniors Marley Bell and Amire Banks who finished with 22 points and 20 points respectively.
The Lady Panthers fall to a 6-13 record and 1-3 in region play. Montgomery County High School improves to 18-0 on the season and 4-0 in the region.
The Men Keep the Train Rolling with a Rout
It was business as usual for the Portal men’s basketball team. They got out to a early lead on their opponents and held onto it all the way through. An excellent four quarters of play led to the Panthers winning 75-40 against Montgomery County High School.
A lot of young guys got more playing time since Portal got ahead early. The Panthers went into the half with a 40-19 lead over the Eagles. The Portal fans got a taste of what the future is going to look like in the second half as many freshmen and sophomores got significant minutes.
Even though the starters only played a little over half of the game, they got their share of highlights. Marion Tremble and Amir Jackson threw down a couple of dunks as part of a big run that put the game away early.
Everyone got in on the action for the Panthers. Joseph Thomas led all scorers with 14 points in the game. Seniors Elijah Coleman and Marion Tremble scored 10 points each. Amir Jackson finished with 8. Brian Mcqueen scored 7 points in his extended role. Freshman Ray Higins saw some of his first minutes of the season and contributed 6 points along with high energy on the boards.
Senior Marquis Martin led the Eagles in scoring with 11 points. Jakobe Mobley followed up with 10 points.
The Panthers improved to a 18-1 record with a 5-0 record in region play. The Eagles fall to a 4-12 record with a 1-3 region record.
UP NEXT:
The Panthers will travel to Twin City to take on Emanuel County Institute Bulldogs on Friday, January 26th. The women will tip off at 5:30. The men’s game will start after the women are finished.
