PORTA-A-C Central went 3-1 in the 101st Winchester Invitational Tournament to secure a Fifth-Place finish. After their opening round win over North Greene, the Bluejays faced off against eventual tourney champion West Central and fell 69 to 46. A 43 to 35 win over Triopia followed. PORTA-AC won the 5th Place game over Hardin Calhoun by a score of 54 to 47.
The PORTA-AC Central Lady Bluejays stayed red hot and moved to 14-0 on the season with three wins in the Riverton Christmas Tournament last week. PORTA-AC destroyed Litchfield and Pana then defeated North Mac by twelve points, their closest game in a month.
Two more dominating wins by the PORTA-AC Central Lady Bluejays has pushed their season record to 11-0 and landed them a # 3 ranking in the latest IHSA Class 2A poll. The Jays held both Midwest Central-Delavan and Auburn to less than 20 points and shut them out for an entire quarter in run-away wins last week.
PORTA-AC Central’s boys varsity basketball team had a rough go of it last week, losing both games on the schedule.
On Tuesday, the Bluejays fell to Cass County rival Beardstown at home in a closely contested game, 53 to 45. The very next day the Jays had to travel to Franklin and take on South County, falling 45 to 30 to the Vipers.
The beat goes on for the PORTA-AC Central Lady Bluejay basketball team as they picked up four more wins last week to move to 9-0 on the season. The girls knocked off Pittsfield and North Fulton on the road before winning twice on Saturday over Carlinville and Sullivan in the Red Kettle Showcase at Lincoln Land College.
It was a quiet week for the PORTA-AC Central boys’ basketball team with just one game on the docket.
The Jays welcomed the Havana Ducks to Ashland last Friday then sent them home on the wrong end of a 55 to 32 score, outscoring them in every quarter.
There is little doubt that new PORTA-AC boys’ basketball coach Steven Price would have loved to win the Championship at the Saukee Turkey Tournament but he’s surely proud of his team after the Bluejays came away with a 3-1 record and the Sportsmanship Award. Only a frustrating loss to the host Saukees in game three kept the Jays from going unbeaten and hoisting the first-place trophy.
The PORTA-AC Central Lady Bluejays won both of their games last week to remain unbeaten and push their record to 5-0 on the season.
The Bluejays found themselves in a dogfight to open the week at home against Dunlap. PORTA-AC jumped to a 14-11 first quarter lead and extended it to 29 to 19 at the half. The Eagles would not go quietly though and outscored the Jays 13 to 5 in the third to cut the lead to just one basket at 34 to 32. A high scoring fourth quarter saw the Bluejays outscore the Eagles 16 to 14 to secure the 50 to 46 victory.
It took an exciting overtime victory over Deer Creek Mackinaw in game two, but the PORTA-AC Central Lady Bluejays are the 2023 Clinton Turkey Tussle Champions. An opening game win over Decatur St. Teresa and a Saturday victory over Stanford Olympia gave the Bluejays the title and a 3-0 start.
Entering his tenth and final year, retiring PORTA-AC Central head basketball coach Eric Kesler (overall record of 165-71) is hoping to go out on a high note and he has the weapons at his disposal to do so.