The basketball game went as expected. Nothing out of the ordinary as have been most of Bryan County’s girls’ games this year when Metter or Screven County were not involved.
Following the Redskins’ 42-30 win over Emanuel County Institute, school officials recognized two individuals for extraordinary achievements.
Coach Mario Mincey was recognized for getting his 300th win earlier this season and senior post player Ashanti Brown earned recognition for achieving the rare feat of eclipsing the 1,000-mark in both scoring and rebounding. She is the first Bryan County player to do so.
Mincey got the landmark victory in the season opener and now has 317 going into Tuesday night’s game with winless Jenkins County (0-22). The Redskins (18-2, 11-1) met Metter (13-2, 11-1) at home on Wednesday night with the winner, barring a major upset, claiming first-place in the regular season Region 3A-DII race and the No. 1 seed for next week’s region tournament at Jenkins County.
Also, not to be overlooked was the presence of assistant coach Cindy Bennett who has been on hand for all of Mincey’s wins.
“I’ve been with him since he started,” Bennett said. “We’ve gone through a lot together.”
Bennett and Mincey carry their partnership over to the tennis courts, too, where they serve as assistants to Laura Blair, who is Bennett’s daughter.
Bryan County will finish the regular season this week with road games at Claxton on Friday and Savannah High on Saturday. The game at Savannah has a start time of 4 p.m. and it will follow the boys’ game.
The win over ECI was a rather mundane affair as the Redskins quickly jumped out to an early lead. Bryan County snapped a 2-2 tie with a 10-0 run and never looked back. It was 19-10 at the half and the Redskins pushed it to 30-12 with four minutes left in the third quarter and from there it was mostly a case of going through the motions.
Brown had 17 points and dominated the boards in her usual fashion and had several steals to lead a ball hawking defense. Point guard Jasmine Mikell added 10 points and Liz Harvey had seven while Layla Mincey chipped in with six. If there was a downside it came at the foul line where Bryan County was 6-of-17.
Brown, obviously, has had a stellar career made more remarkable by the fact she did not start playing basketball until the eighth grade.
“I didn’t like basketball,” said Brown in explaining her late start. “I got cut from the team in the sixth and seventh grade. I just ran track. Coach Mincey is the reason I got to play in the eighth grade.”
Somewhere there’s a middle school coach who has to be questioning his ability to judge talent, something Mincey obviously can do.
“I didn’t know Ashanti as a seventh-grader,” Mincey said. “But then I saw her run track and I knew right away she was a good athlete. I remember going down there and telling the coach, ‘No, you’re NOT cutting her this time. You’re not cutting this kid because she’s an athlete.’”
Mincey saw in Brown a player who was a natural rebounder with raw talent that could be developed into an offensive threat. As a freshman she played with seniors Olanna Rawls and Shelby Gunn so scoring was not needed. As a sophomore she was with Kenzie Stucker and Kayley Wedlow and last year it was Wedlow.
This season she is averaging a team high 16 points and 11 rebounds per game while junior point guard Jasmine Mikell is averaging 14 points per game. On several occasions this season the two have combined to outscore the other team.
“At first I taught her to rebound,” said Mincey. “At first, she wasn’t an offensive threat but you don’t limit a kid because they’re not a great offensive player. You turn them into a defensive player and rebounder and you continue to work on the offensive game in the off season.
“She was a natural athlete but she didn’t like basketball until the ninth grade,” Mincey said. “I had to get her to understand the game and then she got to like it a little bit and worked on her defense and rebounding.
“As a sophomore she scored a little bit more and was more active. As a junior she was comfortable scoring and going both ways. Now as a senior everything is just more natural.”
Brown is naturally proud of her accomplishment because she is well aware of the work she’s put in and is grateful to Mincey for his patience and trust.
“What I am today I owe to Coach Mincey,” Brown said. “He gave me the opportunity to play. After my eighth-grade season I played that summer and he put a lot of time in with me.
“Getting 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds is a big honor for me and my team,” Brown said. “There have been so many great players here and to do something that hasn’t been done before is something I’m proud of.”
The Redskins are a lock to finish the season with 20-plus wins which will continue a streak which has seen them—excluding the 2021 COVID season—win 20 or more games eight straight seasons. They were 88-18 in Brown’s four seasons going into the Jenkins County game.

