Legends, it has been said and written elsewhere, are made, not born.
It’s up to others to determine if Mario Mincey is yet a legend. If he isn’t then he’s certainly approaching that status.
For the sixth straight season and 13th time in 19 seasons Mincey has Bryan County’s girls in the state playoffs. Going into this week’s Region 3A-DII tournament at Metter the Redskins had already qualified for the state playoffs.
They did this by finishing second in the regular season race thus getting an automatic bye into the region semifinals. The top four teams in the region tournament advance.
Bryan County (21-4) will be looking at getting a shot at playing for the region championship when it takes on in all probability Screven County (16-7) Thursday at 4 p.m. at Metter which is hosting the region tournament The championship game is Friday at 7 p.m.
Screven got a first-round bye and faced the winner of the Claxton vs. Portal game on Tuesday night for the right to play Bryan County. The Redskins and Gamecocks split their two regular season meetings, each winning at home.
Now in his 19th season Mincey has amassed 342 wins and his 13 state playoff appearances is the most by any coach in any sport in school history. In girls basketball Johnnie Miller had eight playoff appearances. Robert Bowers took seven teams to the playoffs and Imogene Turner did it once.
While every state playoff appearance is special the last two have been especially special because Mincey’s daughter, Layla, has been on the team. Layla was a key reserve last year as a freshman but this season, especially over the second half, the 5-foot-10 sophomore has blossomed into a force.
Jasmine Mikell leads the Redskins in scoring at 18 points per game but Layla is right behind her at 16 per game while averaging 12 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per outing. She has also developed as a shooter with range as evidenced by her four three-pointers against Claxton in the last game of the regular season.
“She worked hard this summer on increasing her shooting range,” Mincey the coach said of his daughter. “She’s been shooting pretty good and she’s got confidence in her shot. She doesn’t let stuff bother her.”
Mincey ranks in the top five in the state among Class A-DII players in rebounds and blocks. Mikell, who is closing in on 1,400 points and is committed to play at Auburn-Montgomery, is averaging 4.7 assists per game which puts her among the top five in the state.
And, not to outdone, senior guard Liz Harvey, who is perhaps the Redskins’ best defensive player, ranks in the top five in steals with 5.1 per game while averaging 7.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
Although only a sophomore Mincey’s ability to go outside and hit the three-pointer creates opportunities offensively for other players, especially Mikell.
“When she (Layla) goes outside it opens up lanes,” Mincey said. “It opens up the floor and lets Jasmine drive. Then we’ve got Laney (Sehr) and Liz who can shoot the three. It allows us to stretch the floor.”
Sehr is averaging 6.8 points per game and senior Briana Crawford round out the starting five.
If Mincey has to go to his bench it’s all freshmen. There are no juniors on the team and Layla Mincey is the only sophomore.
“Our seniors do a lot of mentoring,” Mincey said. “Liz is our vocal leader and Layla is good with the freshmen because she played with all of them in middle school. She’s the buffer between the older and younger players
“The big thing is they all understand their roles. Briana, for example, could play on the wing and score more. But I talked to her and told her I needed her in the post to rebound because our other post players are so young. Her thing is she wants to do what’s best for the team.”