Getting off to a fast start is nothing new for the Bryan County girls’ basketball team which is 3-0 after last Saturday’s 76-31 win over Harlem.

The Redskins opened the season last Wednesday with a 77-47 win over Toombs County and while the dominant wins over the Bulldogs and Harlem didn’t amount to anything more than glorified scrimmages, they showed their mettle on Friday night with a come-from-behind 46-38 win over Wayne County.

Bryan County will be out to keep its winning streak alive when it takes on South Effingham at 6 p.m. on Friday at home. The boys will play the Mustangs at 7:30.

Going back to 2017 when Coach Mario Mincey’s teams started their current run of 20-win seasons—2021’s 9-12 COVID mark is discounted—coming out of the gate running has been their trademark.

Last year Bryan County started 5-0 and the year before it won its first nine before losing. Three years ago a 2-1 start was followed by seven straight wins. And never to be forgotten is the 2019 team led by Olanna Rawls which was 22-0 before losing at Woodville-Tompkins.

And they’ve accomplished this by starting the season playing mostly upper classification teams. Mincey is a firm believer in “playing up” to get prepared for region play. Although he now has 324 wins overall Mincey’s focus is getting prepared in November and December for the grind of January and February.

The game with Toombs was literally over before it got started. The Redskins led 25-9 after the first quarter and 46-16 at the half. Senior point guard Jasmine Mikell had 26 points, sophomore Layla Mincey had 22, 16 in the first quarter, and senior Liz Harvey pumped in 17.

The game with Harlem was similar as Mikell and Mincey had 21 points each with senior guard Laney Sehr adding 12. Mincey had 11 rebounds while Mikell led a ball-hawking defense with five steals while handing out three assists. Harvey added seven rebounds to go with five points and five steals.

Wayne County, coached by former Richmond Hill player Kala Hires Hobbs who is the daughter of legendary Wildcats coach Jimmy Hires, provided the kind of test which Mincey was looking for.

“When you play a 4A school there’s a difference,” Mincey said. “I like to do that, play up at a higher level. You’re going up against a little more size, more physicality. It’s all about getting ready for region play.”

Hires-Hobbs is in her 11th year at Class 4A Wayne County where she has a 182-86 record per Maxwell Prep records and she has developed the Yellowjackets into a team which plays hard and with intensity.

In the early going Wayne County looked like it was going to cruise as it jumped out to a 10-3 first quarter lead. The Yellowjackets could not sustain that momentum as the Redskins began to assert themselves on the defensive end and made the most of their opportunities at the free throw line.

With Mikell scoring nine of her game high 30 points in the second quarter Bryan County, playing without Mincey who sat out the quarter due to foul trouble, trailed 22-17 at the half but scored the first six points of the third quarter to take the lead for the first time.

Wayne County broke its scoring drought when Alyssa Robinson made a pair of free throws for a 24-23 lead with 3:40 on the clock. Bryan County and Mikell countered by closing out the quarter on a 9-3 run, Mikell scoring all nine points on free throws.

The Redskins continued their surge as they scored the first five points of the fourth quarter with Mikell getting a free throw and a bucket and Harvey scoring on a nifty move inside. That made it 37-26 and the Jackets never got closer than six the rest of the way.

Mikell had an outstanding night at the free throw line as she made 22 of 27 attempts and the Redskins were 30 of 41 as a team. That proved to be the difference in the game as the Jackets made only nine of 23 attempts while being whistled for 29 fouls plus two technicals.

“She got the points when we needed them,” Mincey said of Mikell’s play. “That’s what scorers do when they come down to it. If the number two scorer is not there (Mincey on the bench with fouls), they (Mikell) got to be number one the whole time and that’s what she was.”

Harvey had eight points while Mincey, who fouled out with 1:28 to play, was limited to three points, all coming at the foul line. Mikell is averaging 25.7 points per game, Mincey 15.3 and Harvey 10.0.