Bryan County, along with Metter and Screven County, was one of the pre-season favorites to win the Region 3A-DII girls’ basketball race. If the first two games are any indication it’s going to be a tough slog for the Redskins.
The Redskins (5-0, 2-0), as they did in a 54-39 win at McIntosh County Academy last week, rallied late to pull away from Portal for a 41-28 win last Friday night. It was Bryan County’s 19th straight win over the Panthers.
“Portal is a much-improved team,” said Coach Mario Mincey who is now 25-5 all-time against Portal. “McIntosh has improved, too. I think the entire region is better from top to bottom.
“They had Statesboro beat and lost it in the last two minutes,” Mincey said. “I watched them play Screven and they had Screven in the first half before they went on a run and it kind of got to them.”
Coach Nicole Newton is in her second year at Portal and guided the Panthers to 12 wins last year after they had won nine games the previous three seasons. In Max Preps records dating back to 2007 Portal did not have a winning record with its best season being a 13-16 mark in 2014 when it advanced to the Sweet 16 in the state playoffs. In its first playoff appearance since the Panthers reached the second round last year.
Bryan County played at Metter on Tuesday night in a rematch of last season’s region championship game which it won, 57-47. The Redskins will be at home on Friday against Savannah High, another team which Mincey said is much better than last year.
“I thought we played well down the stretch,” Mincey said. “It was kind of an ugly game but we did win by 12 and anytime you can win by double figures you take it.
“The thing about this group is we’re not going to be the team that like in the past where we can jump on a team,” Mincey said. “It’s going to be one of those situations where it’s going to be quarter by quarter.”
Senior Ashanti Brown, who is yet to start a game this season, came off the bench to score 17 points and she pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Redskins. Point guard Jasmine Mikell scored 12 points while Liz Harvey scored eight and pulled down 14 rebounds as she and Brown teamed to dominate the boards.
While the Redskins have won all five games by double figures they were in a dogfight with the Panthers (1-2, 0-2) up until the closing minutes of the third quarter.
Portal led 24-21 following a 3-pointer by Angel Cone with 1:51 left in the quarter. Jasmine Mikell then hit a pair of free throws and Brown got back-to-back baskets for a 27-24 lead going into the final eight minutes and the Panthers had no answer.
It was 31-27 with 4:48 to play following a Portal bucket but it was all Redskins from that point on. Heaven Nevaeh Lovett hit a free throw and Harvey then scored four straight points as she took a great feed from Lovett for a layup and hit two free throws. After Cone hit a free throw the Redskins scored the final five points to make it look like a more impressive win than it was.
The Redskins had an unusual poor shooting night, some of which could be attributed to the Panther defense, but they struggled at the free throw line where they were 12-of-26.