Bryan County’s boys’ basketball team wasted no time in putting a 90-25 beatdown at McIntosh County Academy in the rearview mirror as it bounced back to post a 45-38 win over Portal last Friday night.
The Panthers (3-2) entered the game ranked No. 9 in the state in Class A-DII by the AJC and jumped out to an early 9-4 lead only to have the Redskins go on a 15-3 run starting with a basket by Elijah Mincey with 30 seconds left in the first quarter.
It was nip-and-tuck from there with neither team being able to gain an advantage until the Redskins took charge in the fourth quarter.
Bryan County (2-1, 1-1 Region 3A-DII) led 21-15 at the half but turnovers and failure to convert at the free throw line let Portal (3-2, 1-1) get back in the game and forge a 32-32 tie going into the fourth.
There were, of course, some questions about how the Redskins would respond following the MCA debacle in which they played without leading scorer and senior point guard Elijah Mincey.
“Our older guys played like older guys should play,” Coach Jason Napier said. “We had two really good days of practice, the two best we’ve had this season.
“Our attitude was good and we came out and our leaders played like leaders,” Napier said. “It was good to have Elijah back and I thought Darius (Edwards) had a really good game, too. He’s only going to get better.”
The Redskins were on the road Tuesday as they played at Metter. They will get their strongest test of the young season Friday night when they host No. 1 Savannah High. The Blue Jackets (3-1) were a Final Four team last year and are led by 6-foot-1 guard Maki Joyner, a consensus all-state player who was the region player of the year last year.
Mincey scored 20 points to lead the win against the Panthers while Mike Smith, who Napier said is the Redskins’ best all-around player, added 12 and Chris Winfree chipped in with eight.
Portal opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back baskets by freshman guard Zeke Percell but the Redskins put together a 9-0 streak capped by a pair of free throws by Edwards for a 41-36 lead with 3:08 to play.
Smith had two baskets in that run as he got a layup off a fast break to put Bryan County in front to stay at 37-36 and seconds later, he came up with a steal and a layup. Coach Jeff Brannen called time with 5:02 left to settle his team down but the Redskins now had the momentum and they were not about to relinquish it.
Although they got the win it was far from a polished effort for the Redskins who suffered through a horrendous 9-for-29 night at the free throw line after going 0-11 at MCA. And, there were turnovers galore.
“We’ve still got a lot to clean up,” Napier said. “We work on free throws every day, and we had over 20 turnovers. Many of them were unforced so that was big to me.
“I know sometimes you get in traffic and things happen and guys do a good job defensively slapping at the ball, etc.,” Napier said. “You don’t like those turnovers but you can live with them but the others like traveling, trying to do too much, leaving your feet too early are totally unforced turnovers.
“We’re going to concentrate on cleaning those things up. We play 12 games in December and we’ve got 10 left. I’m not going to beat them up. We’re going to work on getting better.”