It was a good week for the Bryan County girls basketball team, which picked up three wins, including an important Region 3A-DII victory at Screven County.
Ranked No. 2 in Class A-DII by the AJC, the Redskins (10-1, 4-1) capped off their week with a 52-38 win Saturday night over South Effingham County in a non-region game. A night earlier they had turned in one of their better performances of the season in racing to a 69-34 victory over Wheeler County.
The week also saw Ashanti Brown and Jasmine Mikell emerge as a dynamic duo to be contended with as they turned in outstanding performances. The pair combined to outscore the Mustangs and came within one point of doing so against Wheeler. Bryan County scored 169 points in the three outings and Brown (60) and Mikell (46) teamed up for 106.
While Coach Mario Mincey did not underscore the importance of the weekend wins which ran the Redskins’ home regular season win streak to 19 straight, he couldn’t hide how happy he was with the win at Screven County and its significance.
Bryan County, Screven and Metter are the three top teams in the region and the standings reflect this with the Redskins and Gamecocks at 4-1 and Metter at 3-1. The losses have come against one another with the Tigers handing Bryan County its lone loss after losing to the Gamecocks.
“Screven was a big win with our region being so tight,” Mincey said. “That was a good win because it was on the road. It was stiff competition, just a tough game. It was back-andforth.
“We were up and they made a good run in the fourth quarter. I liked the way we held on. That was the biggest thing, the way we held on at the end.”
Brown scored 17 points and Mikell added 16 as they helped lead Bryan County to a 28-14 halftime lead which the No. 8 Gamecocks simply couldn’t overcome. They trimmed the deficit to 33-26 entering the fourth quarter but the Redskins defense made the lead stand up.
It would have been natural for the Redskins to have had a letdown when they took on Wheeler but it never happened as Brown, who is averaging 18 points per game, poured in 22 and Mikell 11 to lead the easy win.
“I changed the starting lineup against Wheeler,” Mincey said. “I was able to start a couple of kids who hadn’t started (Mckinely Walker and Katelyn King) and I let (freshman point guard) Azaiah Brewton play a lot. Laney Sehr got to play a lot…I played everybody. Let them get out there early and get in the mix.”
South Effingham proved to be a stronger test as the Mustangs led 21-18 at the half. In a virtual repeat of the Redskins’ earlier 56-31 win at South Effingham when Mikell had 19 Bryan County broke it open in the third and never looked back.
Brown scored 21 as she was unstoppable in the paint and Mikell again pumped in 19 from the outside. Brown scored 16 in the second half, eight in each quarter.
The Redskins outscored South Effingham 19-8 in the third quarter and then closed with a rush in the fourth to make it a no-contest at the end.
Bryan County trailed 25-20 two minutes into the third quarter when its constant defensive pressure caused the Mustangs to crack. The result was a 12-0 run that broke it open.
South Effingham broke the ice with four free throws but that proved to be its last gasp. Brown scored the final four points of the quarter and the Redskins then proceeded to score the first 11 of the fourth for a 48-29 lead as the Mustangs did not score until 2:45 to play.
Bryan County will play Telfair County (5-0) at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Paul Thigpen Christmas Classic at Vidalia and will then be idle until Jan. 3 when it plays at Emanuel County Institute.