ARMAGH — After falling to Heritage Conference champion United twice in the regular season, Portage knew of the tall task the Lions presented in the District 6 Class 2A quarterfinals.

The Mustangs hung with top-seeded United early, but the Lions eventually found their footing behind their high-pressure defense.

United turned a two-point mid-first quarter advantage into a 34-point lead at halftime by forcing 25 Portage turnovers in a 71-30 victory Tuesday night.

“We came in with a plan to play a little bit slower because like to go fast,” Portage coach Jade Zatek said. “We battled through most of that first quarter, but unfortunately, we had some turnovers, and those turnovers snowballed. They got us playing their quick pace and we couldn’t keep up.”

Portage closed an early 5-0 deficit down to 9-7 following a free throw by Owen Slanoc with 4:11 remaining in the first quarter.

The Lions then ended the frame on a 13-2 run before scoring the first 24 points of the second quarter to blow the game open.

United (25-0) made its first nine shot attempts in the frame and combined to shoot 20-for-29 from the floor in the first half.

“We kept on chipping away,” United coach Matt Rodkey said. “I’m proud of our guys. We shoot fairly well most of the time. Every shot’s not gonna always go in right away, but once we get hot, it carries on. One guy gets hot, the next guy gets hot, then we just keep rolling.”

Darnell Caldwell scored Portage’s lone bucket of the second quarter just before the break, as the Mustangs went into halftime trailing 46-12 and played under running clock in the second half.

United forced 13 Portage turnovers in the second. The Mustangs committed seven giveaways before getting a shot attempt in the frame.

“We played nice defense,” Rodkey said. “I thought it was pretty fundamental. I think our tempo kind of got to them midway through the first quarter. That’s what we want to do. We want to play great defense. We want to push the pace and see how long that can last.”

The Mustangs outscored the Lions 11-9 in the third quarter before United tallied a 16-7 scoring advantage in the fourth.

Carter Payne scored a game-high 17 points for the Lions.

Caldwell and Tyson Burkett led the Mustangs with nine points apiece, with Burkett recording eight rebounds and six assists.

Portage (8-15) completed its first season following the retirement of former coach Travis Kargo after 25 seasons at the helm of the Mustangs.

The Mustangs began the campaign winning four of the first six games, and sat at 5-4 at the start of January.

Despite enduring an eight-game losing streak, the Mustangs won three key games in February to secure the No. 8 seed in the postseason while primarily using a six-player rotation that consisted of four seniors and two freshmen.

Portage’s senior class was a part of two District 6 championship teams (2023 and 2025) as well as the program’s first Heritage Conference title last season.

“These guys grew up a lot this year,” Zatek said. “We had very little varsity experience coming back. A couple freshmen stepped up this year, and we got better as the season went on. Our goal was to get into the playoffs and see what happened. We accomplished that.

“The seniors led by example. They were at every event we had and showed up to all the workouts. For my first year being the head coach, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of seniors.”

Portage (30): Burkett 4 1-2 9, Caldwell 4 0-0 9, Kick 1 0-0 2, E. Slanoc 1 0-0 2, Bobolsky 1 0-2 3, O. Slanoc 2 1-3 5. Totals: 13 2-7 30.

United (71): Payne 8 1-2 17, Felix 5 3-4 13, Worthington 3 2-4 9, Burkett 4 2-2 10, McGinnis 1 0-0 3, Darr 2 0-0 4, James 0 2-2 2, Duncan 3 0-0 8, Oleksa 1 0-0 3, Gross 0 2-2 2. Totals: 27 12-16 71.

Score by Quarters

Portage 10 2 11 7 — 30

United 22 24 9 16 — 71

3-point field goals: Portage 2 (Caldwell, Bobolsky); United 5 (Duncan 2, Worthington, McGinnis, Oleksa).

Records: Portage 8-15, United 25-0.