Bryan County’s girls showed no ill effects of a 63-42 thumping at Region 3A-DII leader Metter when they took on winless Savannah last Friday night at home.
The Redskins made sure the Blue Jackets remained winless as they jumped out to a 16-3 first quarter lead and then continued to pour it on the second as they outscored the visitors 30-3. It was the second time this season Bryan County had held an opponent scoreless in a quarter following a loss.
The Redskins (18-3, 10-2) also blanked Portal in the second quarter following a loss at McIntosh County Academy. When the smoke had cleared Bryan County owned a 59-18 win over Savannah as it was obviously never pressed.
Bryan County found itself in second-place in the region behind Metter (10-2, 8-1) going into a Tuesday night game at defending region champion Screven County (11-6, 9-4). It was the first of three straight region road games for the Redskins.
The Redskins are one of five teams jockeying for the top two spots in the regular season race. The top two teams get byes into the semi-finals of the region tournament and in turn earn an automatic spot in the Class A state playoffs.
Actually, Bryan County currently holds second-place based on winning percentage as it is tied with McIntosh (8-10, 7-2) in the loss column. The third and fourth-place teams get a first-round tournament bye with ECI (9-4, 7-4) and Screven (11-6, 7-4) in the mix, too.
Metter has two games remaining with MCA and one with ECI and will be the prohibitive favorite in all three games.
“There’s still a lot of basketball left to be played,” Bryan County Coach Mario Mincey said. “I know people get tired of me saying it but this is a tough region.”
This Friday the Redskins will be at ECI in a game which could offer a test and then comes a game at Jenkins County before closing out the regular season with a game against Claxton.
Bryan County should handle Jenkins County and Claxton with ease but the Bulldogs, who beat Screven County last week and were at MCA on Tuesday night, could offer a test. The Redskins were pushed somewhat in posting a 47-38 win in their first meeting.
Jasmine Mikell scored 18 points to pace the win over Savannah, getting 12 in the first quarter, freshman post player McKenzie Smith had her best scoring night of the season as she came off the bench to score 12 and Liz Harvey had 10.
It was obvious from the outset the game was a mismatch and Mincey was shuffling players off the bench into the game midway through the first quarter. Smith, for example, had four of her points in the first quarter.
It was 16-3 after one quarter and 46-3 at the half. Bryan starters had 37 points and freshmen, who played the second half, accounted for the rest.
“We look at it as just trying to get ready for the region tournament,” Mincey said of the three straight road games. “We’re looking at different situations we’re trying to run them through.
“As long as you finish in the top three or four, you’re in pretty good shape is the way I look at it,” Mincey said. “Right now, we’re just trying to figure some things out to get ready for the tournament.”