SPARTA — On Thursday, three seed No. 12 Bryan County Lady Redskins (23-6) head basketball coach Mario Mincey said that all he wanted his team to do was play well.
On Friday they got that opportunity in their Sweet 16 1A Public tournament game at one seed No. 7 Hancock Central (16-3).
The Lady Redskins played well – but it just wasn’t enough as they failed to silence a hyped up Hancock Central crowd, falling 56-48 in the Sweet 16.
Led by two threes by Niyah Shuman who had 10 on the night, the Lady Redskins jumped out to a 8-0 lead over the Lady Dogs in Sparta, the home of NBA players of the 1990’s Horace and Harvey Grant.
The early run caused the Lady Dogs to put their first timeout to work and at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Redskins led by one possession, up 15-13.
“We were getting in transition and were able to knock down some shots,” Mincey said of the hot steak. “When ‘10’ get going, she can knock down shot after shot. But they made an adjustment and it slowed us down a little bit.”
With 2:26 left on the clock in the second quarter, Aniy Hill converted an and-one to pull the Lady Dogs ahead for the first time of the night.
At the halfway mark, the Lady Dogs led 22-19.
“We got tired,” Mincey said. “Our young post player Ashanti Brown had a hard time finding herself and a couple of my guards got wore down a little bit.”
Almost halfway into halftime, Anderia Jackson took a 24-22 lead before Tiamber Williams tied it up immediately.
Jackson scored 21 on the night.
The Lady Dogs went on a 6-0 run, causing Mincey to use a timeout.
The Lady Redskins fit their act together and only trailed by a single point going into the final quarter at 35-34.
Ashanti Brown got the lead quickly for the Lady Redskins, powering her way up for a basket for two of her 14 points less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
Five minters remained and the Lady Redskins held on to a 40-37 lead.
But that would be the last of it in regulation.
Neela Lamar scored off a backdoor cut to put the Lady Dogs up 41-40 with 3:57 left in the fourth.
Jackson made a floater and tied the game up at 42.
After Jameria Lawrence scored and Brown tied the ball game up at 44 with 53 seconds remaining in regulation, the score remained the same, forcing overtime.
Jackson took the lead within 20 seconds of overtime by splitting free throws to help the Lady Redskins hold a 45-44 lead.
But the Lady Dogs went on a 12-3 run to end it led by Jalexcia Hargrove in overtime.
“Anderia did a good job getting to the basket,” Mincey said. “We didn’t get some of the calls we should’ve got but it is what it is – you got to keep playing. But we didn’t make enough free throws down the stretch. Hargrove took over and got easy baskets in overtime. That kid did a great job.”
The Lady Dogs will move on to face the winner of one seed No. 2 Montgomery County and two seed No. 15 Trion.
The Lady Redskins improved their win total by 14 and will graduate four seniors.
“I love them to death,” Mincey said of the graduates. “Most of them been with me since the seventh grade. I watched them play middle school ball and rec ball. They’re welcome to come back just like any of my other players. My thing now is to get them into college. When you got nine freshman in a hostile environment like this, I can’t ask for nothing better. We came out of nowhere from a team that was 9-12 last year due to COVID. I’m just proud of our kids.”