The full court press can be a tough defense to overcome in basketball.

The Portland Lady Panthers learned that first hand on Friday night as they traveled to Beech to take on the Lady Bucs.

Beech pressed early and often in the first half, and in doing so, built a sizeable halftime lead and cruised to 50-28 win.

With the victory, Beech improved to 16-10 overall and 7-5 in District 9-AAA.

“We knew coming into this game that we wanted to press a little more than we usually do,” said Beech head coach Kari Maddox.

“We really did a great job defensively and that set the tone for the game. Even though we had beaten them earlier in the year, I told the girls that we could not take any team for granted.”

Any thought of a letdown was erased early on, as the Lady Bucs led by 15 points at 20-5 after the first quarter of play.

Several players got in on the action in the opening quarter for Beech, as five different players scored to give the home team the comfortable lead.

Sophomore McKenna Taylor scored seven points, while teammate Alex Banks tossed in six points.

Beech kept the pressure up in the second quarter as they continued to build on their lead.

The Lady Bucs outscored Portland 16-6 and carried a 36-11 lead into the locker room at the midway point.

Ciarra Davis and Banks each had five points in the second quarter to pace the Lady Buc attack.

The Beech defense was stellar in the opening half, holding the Lady Panthers to under 20 percent shooting and holding the visitors to just four field goals.

Things were a little closer in the second half as both teams struggled to get into any sort of a groove offensively.

Neal and Bailey Taylor scored the only baskets of the third quarter for Beech, each connecting from downtown.

Portland outscored Beech 9-6 in the third quarter, but still found themselves down 42-20 headed into the final eight minutes of the game.

“I think in the second half, we did not execute quite as well as I would have liked obviously,” said Maddox.

“And obviously in sports, that can be a challenge when you go into the locker room with such a big lead, but we just need to continue to try to minimize the mistakes as we get ready for the postseason.”

Each team scored eight points in the final quarter of play. Neal scored five of her teams eight points, while Falon Baker connected from downtown for the other three points.

The Lady Bucs celebrated senior night against Portland, so it was only fitting that a senior would lead the team in scoring. Alex Banks finished with 11 points.

The Lady Bucs wrap up their regular season this week on the road at Gallatin, and will begin play next week in the District 9-AAA tournament.

BEECH (50): Alex Banks 11, CheyAnn Neal 8, McKenna Taylor 7, Falon Baker 6, Ciarra Davis 5, Bailey Taylor 5, Shelby Brown 5, Ashtin Banks 3.

Halftime: 36-11 Beech. Record: 16-10.

By Ethan Greer