Mike Brown, Sports Correspondent
Coach Jason Napier said prior to Tuesday night’s game with Screven County, “The season starts tonight.”
Senior point guard Elijah Mincey apparently got the message as he poured in a season-high 33 points to lead the Redskins (136, 6-5) to a crucial 64-59 Region 3A-DII win over the Gamecocks (8-9, 7-5) to jump start a stretch in which they play six games in 10 days.
The Redskins girls’ (17-3, 10-1) remained in a tie for first-place with Metter (13-2, 10-1) by the skin of their teeth as Screven missed a last second shot to enable them to escape with a 57-56 win. Metter beat ECI, 62-25, Tuesday night for its ninth straight win. Jazmine Mikell scored 19 points to lead Bryan County and got strong support from Ashanti Brown with 16 and Liz Harvey adding 13. The Redskins were only 20-for-35 at the free throw line but were clutch in the fourth quarter.
Leading 41-36 going into the final eight minutes, Screven was forced to foul in an attempt to catch up and the strategy nearly worked except for the fact Bryan County made 12 of its 16 free throw attempts with Mikell going 8-9.
Napier’s team is jockeying for seeding position for the region tournament behind McIntosh County Academy and Savannah which have the top two spots locked up and thus earning first round byes.
Mike Smith added 15 for Bryan County which broke the game open with a 28-point explosion in the second quarter and then held Screven at bay the rest of the way. Mincey had 12 points in the first half and 21 in the second.
Bryan County won despite shooting a miserable 9-for-21 at the free throw line, an issue which has plagued it all season.
Mincey, normally a good free throw shooter, made only 3-of-10.
This was the first game for the Redskins teams in 10 days due to weather issues. In their last game the boys won by 17 points at Portal and appeared to be gaining momentum for a strong finish.
The Redskins play ECI at home on Friday night and have home games next Tuesday and Wednesday against Jenkins County and Metter, respectively, before finishing on the road at Claxton on Feb. 7 and at Savannah the following night.
The girls’ game with Metter will undoubtedly decide the regular season championship as neither team is expected to lose any of its remaining region games. The Tigers won their first meeting, 68-63, when they hit 17 3-pointers.
Mike Brown is a sports correspondent with the Bryan County News.