The Portal Panther girls’ basketball team is coming off one of their most successful seasons in school history as they advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Panthers lost a couple of players from last year, but are hoping to continue their success this season. Head coach Nicole Newton is expecting big things from quite a few of her returning players including junior post player Angel Cone.

 “Angel Cone is one of our co-captains,” Newton said. “As a junior, this is will be her first healthy season for us. Angel is a vocal leader and always plays hard. Those are some of the things we love about her. Her determination led her back to the team and she shows how grateful she is to play this game every time she steps on the court.”

 "My role on this team depends on the night, honestly,” Cone said. “Whatever my team needs me to do on whatever side of the ball. Last year people counted us out but we shocked the world with the Sweet 16. We lost some players but we have new talent mixed in with our vets this year to make the team even better.

“This year we are really deep. Our bench is filled with talent and they will get to showcase it throughout the year as well as returning talent that is up and running. We know we are in a tougher region this year but we still have goals of surprising everyone.”