By Brad Rosemas

For the Mirror

PORTAGE — Portage coach Travis Kargo admitted he was concerned of how his team would perform coming into the District 6 playoffs after not having played in eight days.

The Mustangs’ veteran lineup assured their head coach he had little to worry about.

An early first-quarter run jumped No. 2 seed Portage out to a 12-point lead, and the Mustangs never looked back, cruising to a 69-50 victory over No. 7 Claysburg-Kimmel in the Class 2A quarterfinals Tuesday night.

“We hadn’t played since last Monday,” Kargo said. “I feel like we had a lull, so I was worried about rust. I thought we came out fairly focused on the defensive end. We were a little sharper defensively in the first half than the second half, and sometimes that happens. We knew they were going to play hard, and they did.”

Portage (19-5) will face No. 6 seed Bishop McCort Catholic, a 59-53 winner over No. 3 United, in Saturday’s semifinals.

This will be the Mustangs’ first matchup against the Crimson Crushers since 2021.

Now winners of six straight games, Portage avoided being knocked out in the first round in back-to-back years. The Mustangs fell to Bishop Carroll Catholic in last season’s quarterfinals, ending a quest for a fourth consecutive district title.

“Last year, this game didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to,” Portage senior Ethan Hodge said. “Tonight, we came out with a fire and we wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again. We’ve got our goals set at that next district championship. That’s the main goal.”

Hodge was one of four Mustangs in double-figures, scoring 10 points. Trae Kargo posted a game-high 20, Owen Gouse tallied 16 and Bode Layo added 11.

“We play hard defense,” Gouse said. “That’s our goal. Play defense and make that turn into offense. We do it all the time, and we play hard. That’s all it is.”

The Mustangs’ high-pressure defense gave the Bulldogs fits from the opening tip.

Claysburg-Kimmel held an early 5-3 lead after back-to-back buckets from Christian Treon, but seven first-quarter turnovers quickly dug the Bulldogs into a 15-5 hole after the Mustangs tallied 12 unanswered points.

After starting the game 2-for-2 from the floor, the Bulldogs were just 1 of 13 shooting for the remainder of the frame. Portage led 19-7 after one.

“Portage is very quick, and that quickness is tough to match in practice,” Claysburg-Kimmel coach Mike Harris said. “We knew what they were going to do, it was just a matter of us executing defensively. The game kind of got away from us early. We tried to hang in there, and I have to applaud the effort.”

Portage increased its advantage to 38-20 at the half and 56-36 through three quarters. The Mustangs led by as many as 29 in the fourth before both coaches emptied their benches.

Claysburg-Kimmel junior Brayden Haney, who became the program’s all-time leading scorer this past week, was held to 10 points after averaging 20.7 per game coming in.

With Hodge as his main defender, Baney recorded just two points on a single basket in the first half. Baney added eight points in the third before fouling out with 6:07 to go in the game.

“He’s been doing this since Christmas,” coach Kargo said of Hodge. “His job is to take the leading scorer on the other team. He’s done a great job with it. He loves that role, and he thrives in it.”

Claysburg-Kimmel closed a 12-12 season. The Bulldogs will lose two seniors to graduation in Dakota Dively and Braden Bass.

A predominantly young squad that is set to return all five starters next season, Claysburg-Kimmel overcame a 3-9 start to win its next nine consecutive games and reach the Inter-County Conference semifinals for the first time in school history.

“This was a great experience,” Harris said. Everybody fought. Nobody quit. We battled to get to this point. I told them to not hang their heads. Next year, we’ll have all seniors. Hopefully, we can make it back and maybe the shoe will be on the other foot then.”

CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (50): Haney 4 2-4 10, Knisely 1 0-0 2, Kulick 3 1-2 7, Dively 2 0-0 6, C. Treon 5 0-0 11, G. Treon 4 0-0 8, Walter 2 0-0 6. Totals — 21 3-6 50.

PORTAGE (69): Kargo 6 1-4 20, Slanoc 2 0-0 4, Layo 5 1-2 11, Gouse 7 1-2 16, E. Hodge 3 4-4 10, Z. Hodge 1 0-0 2, McCoy 3 0-0 6. Totals — 28 7-12 69.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Claysburg-Kimmel 7 13 16 14 — 50

Portage 19 19 18 13 — 69

3-point goals: Claysburg-Kimmel 5 (Dively 2, Walter 2, C. Treon); Portage 6 (Kargo 5, Gouse).

Records: Claysburg-Kimmel 12-12; Portage 19-5.