The last time Statesboro and Portal met on the basketball court was at Hanner Fieldhouse and the story of the game was free throws. The Blue Devils were just 3-14 while the Panthers hit 25 of their 29 attempts.
Friday night’s rematch actually came down to free throws as the Panther’s Amir Jackson sank three free throws with less than one second to play and Portal knocked off Statesboro 59-56.
With an effective 3-2 zone defense Statesboro dominated the first half and led 31-17. The 17 points were the fewest points Portal has scored in a half in over two years. The Panthers finally began finding success driving to the basket, and Jackson dominated in the paint as he scored a game-high 23 points and pulled down 17 rebounds.
“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 for the first time since it was 7-7. The two teams then went back-and-forth with Ja’caiden Cone hitting a spinning layup and drawing the foul. He’d sink the free throw for a 48-45 lead.
Marion Tremble tied the game at 48-48 but Raylin Grant hit a pull up jumper to give Statesboro a 5-48 lead. Cone later hot a three pointer to give Statesboro a 53-50 lead, but Jackson then 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 three to extend the Blue Devil lead to 56-52, but less than 10 seconds later Joseph Thomas hit a corner three to cut the lead back to 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 ended up calling 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 11-0 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 host Bible Baptist Tuesday at 6:30.
