Area high school basketball teams have wrapped up their holiday tournaments and most begin region play over the next week or so. Three Bulloch County boys teams played each other last week in the Gentlemen’s Classic at Statesboro High and two games came down to the wire. Statesboro defeated Bryan County 74-33 in the opener and then survived a scare before beating Southeast Bulloch 63-60. Portal then came back from a 14-point deficit to knock off Statesboro 59-56. 

The Blue Devils jumped out to a 31-17 halftime lead over Portal. The Devils implemented a 3-2 zone which the Panthers struggled with as they settled for 3-point shots and had trouble finding the right range. 

Portal went on a run in the second half, led by a game-high 24 points from Amir Jackson including hitting three free throws in the final seconds to ice the game for the Panthers. 

“They threw a zone at us and we just stood around taking bad shots and not attacking the whole first half,” said Portal coach Jeff Brannen. “At halftime we told them to push the ball and I told Elijah Coleman to get downhill and find Amir. He followed the instructions and Amir worked hard getting to the rim for rebounds and baskets. We knew Statesboro was playing their third game in three nights and we tried to turn up the defense and make them turn the ball over. Our pre-region schedule has been a grind but I think we are a better team for having played tough teams like Statesboro.” 

Statesboro head coach Keith LeGree was frustrated with the way the Blue Devils played for most of the second half and gave credit to Jackson for the way he took over the game. 

“Amir Jackson just dominated us with offensive rebounds,” LeGree said. “They missed plenty of shots, but we just kept letting him get the rebounds and we have to do a better job especially on the defensive glass. I thought we played a great first half, but you have to play a full game and we didn’t do that tonight. We had some crucial turnovers too and that is something we have been working on. I feel like we can be a better team if we learn from the mistakes we made tonight moving on.” 

Portal outscored Statesboro 26-8 in the third quarter to cut the Blue Devil lead to 43-39. A Marion Tremble putback tied the game 45-45 in the final period for the first time since the game's opening minutes. The two teams then went back-and-forth with Ja’caiden Cone hitting a spinning layup and drawing a foul. He sank the free throw for a 48-45 SHS lead. 

Tremble tied the game at 48-48 but Raylin Grant hit a pull up jumper to give Statesboro a 50-48 advantage. Cone later hit a 3-pointer to give Statesboro a 53-50 lead, but Jackson grabbed another rebound and hit a putback to cut the lead to 53-52 with just over two minutes to go.  

Grant hit a corner 3 to extend the Blue Devil lead to 56-52, but less than 10 seconds later Joseph Thomas hit a corner 3 to make it 56-55 with just over a minute to play. Jackson was fouled with 34 seconds to go and made one of two free throws to tie the game at 56-56.  

Cam Wilkerson was called for traveling on the next Blue Devil possession. Portal called a time out with eight seconds left to set up the final play of the game. Coleman drove just past the free throw line and dumped the ball inside to Jackson. Kam Mikell appeared to get a clean block from behind, and Cam Wilkerson went up in front of Jackson. Mikell was called for the foul and then LeGree was issued a technical foul. With 0.8 seconds left Jackson made three of the four free throws, Portal inbounded the ball and the game was over.  

Jackson led all scorers with 23 points while Thomas added 13 and Tremble had 10 for Portal who improve to 10-0 on the season. Next up Portal travels to Vidalia Jan. 6 for a 5:30 girl’s game tipoff. 

Statesboro was led by Cone with 20 while Grant had 14 and Kam Mikell added 10 points. Statesboro falls to 9-2 and will next travel to Coffee County Friday night. 

Elsewhere, Southeast Bulloch split a pair of games Tuesday at Swainsboro as the girls lost 86-23 and the boys won 64-60. Zach Wells led the Jackets with 25 points while Brendan O’Dowd had 11 and Trey Jones had 12. The Southeast Bulloch boys improve to 6-5 and next up the Jackets host New Hampstead Friday at 6 p.m. 

The Bulloch Academy boys knocked off First Presbyterian Day 90-67 to improve to 5-6 on the season. The Lady Gators beat Tattnall Square 63-61 in overtime and then lost to First Presbyterian 55-20 as they fell to 7-4. Up next the Gators host Thomas Jefferson Thursday at 6 p.m.