It could be argued Region 3A-DII was the strongest in the state last year in basketball and it would be difficult to refute the claim.
Savannah High won the state championship beating region mate McIntosh County Academy in the title game. Bryan County won 22 games and advanced to the Elite Eight where it lost to Greene County, 52-49. Five of the Redskins’ nine losses came to the Blue Jackets and Buccaneers.
Both Bryan County and McIntosh lost heavily to graduation so when the two met Tuesday night in the Region 3A-DII opener for both there were question marks aplenty for both teams.
They didn’t answer all the questions but the two rivals showed they will not be easy outs as the season begins to heat up.
McIntosh got 30 points from 6-foot-7 senior Marquis Morning and held off a desperate Redskins stretch drive to hang on for a 71-68 win. Morning had 15 points off offensive rebounds, a statistic which left Bryan County coach Jason Napier frustrated.
Ger'bravion Collins showed signs he is shaking off the rustiness of football as he scored 21 points to lead Bryan County. Darius Edwards had 19 and promising sophomore Jordan Carlos added 12.
The Bucs, thanks to Morning, controlled the boards and it was the continuation of a trend this season per Napier.
“I wrote on the board (in the locker room) a comparison of last year’s first three games and this year’s first three,” Napier said. “Last year we were 30 rebounds ahead of where we are this year.
“Rebounding is about attitude and effort,” Napier said. “Rebounding has nothing to do with talent. The greatest rebounder in NBA history was Dennis Rodman and he was 6-foot-8.
“It’s just a matter of want to. It’s an attitude thing, just an effort issue. As long as we have that we’ll be in every game,” Napier said. “Tonight, the difference in the game was the missed shots we had around the basket, free throws and offensive execution.”
In a game which was tight from the beginning the Bucs found themselves with an 11-point lead, 63-52, early in the fourth quarter only to have the Redskins come back and earn a 67-67 tie on Darius Edwards’ basket with 56 seconds to play.
After Josh West scored for McIntosh, the Redskins had the opportunity to tie it when Edwards went to the foul line with 30 seconds remaining. The senior forward missed the first and made the second. Morning made two free throws 19 seconds later and Bryan County was unable to counter.
Neither team was able to put together a run in the early going although McIntosh did appear to have created itself some breathing room in the second quarter when it held a 31-24 lead.
That was short-lived, however, as the resilient Redskins battled back for a 36-35 advantage when Edwards stole an inbounds pass, was fouled only to miss the free throw. Unfortunately, it was a harbinger of things to come for Edwards.
McIntosh scored the next four points, the last two coming on a 15-foot jumper by Earnest McIntosh at the buzzer, to make it 39-36 at the break.
The Bucs appeared to take control of the game when they went on an 8-0 run starting at the end of the third quarter for the 63-52 lead with 7:10 to play when freshman Justus Ratliff, who had 12 points, canned a 3-pointer.