Bryan County’s boys basketball team was riding high last Friday as it demolished Screven County, 83-47, in a Region 3A-D1 game behind Elijah Mincey’s 29 points.

The Redskins entered the game ranked No. 10 in the state by Sandy’s Spiel.com, which left veteran observers scratching their heads as to the last time a Bryan County team had been ranked.

Most agreed it would have to have been in the early to mid-1990s when the Redskins were a state power under Coach Michael Butler. In 1993 Bryan County lost to Richmond Hill in the Class A state championship game and in 1998 the Redskins advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. Their next state playoff appearance was in 2014.

That ranking went by the wayside the following night when the Redskins (9-4, 3-1) lost to Southeast Bulloch, 64-38, in a non-region game which, Coach Brent Anderson, hopes was simply an aberration and will serve as a wakeup call going into the biggest stretch of the season.

The now unranked Redskins take on two top 10 teams in two of the next three games as they host region foes No. 2 Savannah High (11-5, 4-0) on Friday night and No. 3 Woodville-Tompkins (14-2, 4-1) next Tuesday. In between is a Saturday night visit to McIntosh County Academy.

With the exception of a 58-50 overtime win over Metter, all of the other wins have been by double digits and Anderson said he thought in beating the Gamecocks his team turned in one of its most complete games of the year.

“We shot the ball really well,” Anderson said. “We had worked a lot on offense during the week, moving the basketball, pushing it off rebounds and we did exactly what I wanted us to do tonight.”

If the Redskins are going to be a factor in the region they will need a repeat performance and more against the Blue Jackets and the Wolverines.

Screven led in the early going at 10-9 before Gerbrae’vion Collins made one of two free throws with 3:10 left in the first quarter to tie it. That triggered a 15-3 run which was a sign of things to come.

Bryan County, leading 24-16 after the first quarter, continued the run into the opening minutes of the second as it quickly pushed the lead to 34-17 against the dazed Gamecocks. Jayden Odum and Chris Winfree had two baskets each and Mincey took a long pass from Mike Smith to score an easy layup.

That was just the start for Mincey who then hit four straight three-pointers–each shot seemingly longer than the previous one.

When the smoke had settled Bryan County finished the quarter with 31 points and an insurmountable 55-32 halftime lead.

Mincey had 26 points at the break and he was pulled in the third quarter. Winfree, who is improving by leaps and bounds, finished with 12 points and controlled the boards at both ends of the floor.

Collins added nine points, Odum had eight while Smith and Darius Edwards had seven points each. In all 10 different players scored.

“We blew the top off of it (second quarter),” Anderson said. “That’s the best game Mincey’s had. He’s been battling a shoulder injury from football.

“He’s been limited and we’ve been trying to rest him in spots,” Anderson said of the junior guard who was an all-region cornerback in his first year of playing football. “I think he’s getting back to being healthy and for us to be a really good team we have to have what he did tonight.”

Savannah High won the region tournament last year and is favored to repeat. Woodville handed the Redskins their only region loss, 54-51, while its only region defeat came at the hands of the Blue Jackets, 63-48.