When Bryan County’s girls play at Macon County on Friday night in the second round of the Class A-DII state playoffs they won’t be going in blind.
Coach Mario Mincey leaves no stone unturned when it comes to preparation and he has been studying film on the Bulldogs and most every other team in Region 6 for the second half of the season.
The Friday night game will bring together two of the top teams in Class A-DII. The Redskins (24-3), looking to advance to the quarterfinals of the playoffs for the second straight year after knocking off Hawkinsville, 47-29, on Tuesday night, are ranked No. 3 by the AJC one spot behind Macon County (20-3).
Macon County beat No. 4 Taylor County, 57-54, in their region championship game. Bryan County lost to No. 7 Screven County, 45-43, in their region title matchup and thus earned a No. 2 seed forcing the trip to Montezuma, Ga.
“They’re a good team,” Mincey said of Macon County. “I’ve been watching film on them for several weeks now. I start studying all of the teams we might face so we know quite a bit about them.”
Hawkinsville was obviously not as prepared as Bryan County which is no longer as guard oriented as Redskins teams of the past couple of seasons.
With three “bigs” on the inside in Ashanti Brown, Soniya Walker and Layla Mincey the Redskins pounded it inside and Hawkinsville didn’t have an answer.
Brown and Mincey, a freshman who has proven she’s not playing just because she’s the coach’s daughter but rather because she is capable, both posted double doubles.
Brown, the only player in school history to register more than 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds. Mincey had career highs with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“We got control of the game early and maintained it,” Mincey said of his team’s play. “The closest they got was around 13 points in the third quarter.”
“I got to play a lot of kids which is good because it gives them a taste of what it’s like to play in a state playoff game.”
Point guard Jasmine Mikell, Bryan County’s second leading scorer at 14.2 points per game—Brown leads at 15.7 to go with 10.4 rebounds per outing—scored only three points but she had five assists and played a near flawless floor game.
“They were concentrating more on our perimeter game,” Mincey said. “We took what they gave us. With our size we’re a different team than some of the ones we’ve had the last few years.
“We’ve already watched Macon County,” Mincey said. “I’ve been watching them since they got ranked in the Top 10 like Taylor County, us, Screven and Metter.
Our experience in the playoffs will help, too.”
This is Bryan County’s fourth straight trip to the state playoffs and eighth in the last nine years. The only time it missed out was in the COVID impacted 2021 season which can only go down as an aberration.
Although she didn’t have to score, Mikell, a junior who has started every game for three seasons, is the key for the Redskins. If the team was an engine, she would be its universal joint as she directs the offense and defense.
One problem the Redskins have had this season, Mikell said, is they tend to play to the level of the competition, good or bad.
“We do that a lot as a team,” Mikell said. “We play down to the opposition. When we know we’re better than a team we tend to play down to them rather than playing like we would play against a team like Screven or Metter.”
If that axiom holds true then the Redskins, who finished the season with a 12-0 record at home, should be in the mix against the Bulldogs when the game gets to its closing minutes.
Macon County is led in scoring by 5-foot-9 junior Morgan Cochran at 17.7 points per game. Sisters Aliyah and Aniah Lake, average 9.0 each.
“The big kid (Cochran) can play inside or out,” Mincey said. “She’s real good and they’re a lot like us in that they depend on defense. It’s going to be kind of like a boxing match.”
Mike Brown is a sports correspondent with the Bryan County News.