Basketball Recap: Portal Takes a Loss

Portal won a close one the last time they played, but unfortunately they suffered a serious change of fortune on Friday. They had to suffer through a 69-40 loss at the hands of the Statesboro Blue Devils. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Panthers have suffered against the Blue Devils since December 12, 2015.

Josh Coleman

Points (Career)

12/20/24 vs Statesboro	13
12/13/24 @ Jenkins County	11
12/14/24 vs New Hampstead	10
12/10/24 vs Savannah Classical Academy	10
12/06/24 @ Bryan County	4

Several Panthers players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Josh Coleman, who went 6 for 8 on his way to 13 points. Those 13 points gave Coleman a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaylon Strickland, who posted five points and six rebounds.

Statesboro had a senior duo take command as Muhammad Shareef went 6 of 9 on his way to 14 points in addition to seven steals and five assists and Camdyn Wilkerson went 6 of 9 on his way to 13 points and seven rebounds. Those five assists set a new season-high mark for Shareef. Another player making a difference was Ja'Caiden Cone, who put up 12 points.

Portal's loss dropped their record down to 5-4. As for Statesboro, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 7-1.

Portal and Appling County will round out the year against one another at at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. Portal is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 58 points per game this season. As for Statesboro, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 67-28 victory against Glenn Hills on the 21st.