As the Statesboro Blue Devils watched a six-point halftime lead turn into a four-point fourth quarter deficit, it seemed as though they had run out of gas.
    But Statesboro rallied hard, outscoring Beach by a 17-6 margin over the final six minutes of play to earn a 56-49 victory Tuesday night at the Devils’ Den.
    “Beach is a great team with great athletes,” said SHS coach Lee Hill. “I think we’ve got some good athletes as well. It was back-and-forth all night. That’s the kind of teams we know we’ll need to beat later in the season.”
    Alex Simmons and O’Aaron Ware each netted 12 points to lead the Devils (8-1). Simmons added 11 points for a double-double to add to what is quickly becoming a breakout sophomore season.
    The teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 39-39, but Rashad Cummings (18 points) hit consecutive jumpers to give the Bulldogs (4-4) their first lead since a 6-4 first quarter edge.
    Yakeem Coleman — who picked up three fouls in the first half and was benched after picking up a fourth foul early in the second half — came back with a vengeance, knocking down a 3 to get the Devils back in contention.
    Zaquavian Smith managed just four points on a rare off night for the star junior guard, but contributed elsewhere. After a Ware jumper regained the lead for SHS, Smith came up with a steal and found Coleman for a short jumper to extend the Devils’ lead.
    “(Smith) was a little upset that his shots weren’t going down and we had to sit Yakeem for a little bit,” said Hill. “That’s going to happen sometimes. The important part is that we had other guys like Alex and Jonathan (Taylor) step up and (Smith and Coleman) were able to come on strong at the end.”
    Simmons connected on a put-back and a baseline jumper as Coleman converted a layup off of a steal to help the Devils pull away down the stretch.
    Early on, things looked like they were going to play out much differently.
    The Statesboro offense sputtered as the Bulldogs hit jumpers on their first two possessions of the game. A Blue Devil turnover led to an alley-oop jam by Cummings, forcing Hill to call time out just over two minutes into the game.
    But Statesboro quickly responded.
    Coleman got SHS on the board at the 4:38 mark of the first quarter and consecutive steals by Ware produced easy layups.
    High-pressure defense produced eight steals in the first quarter and the Devils needed just 1:46 to rattle off a 10-0 run that gave them the lead until late in the third quarter.
    Statesboro got into halftime with a 28-22 lead, but Shawn Brooks recorded nine of his 11 points on the night in the third quarter to help the Bulldogs close in and set up the exciting final quarter of play.
    The Devils will resume play Thursday as they begin competition in the U-Save-It tournament sponsored by Albany High. The Devils face Albany in their first game of the tournament.
   
Lady Devils back in win column
    After a tough road loss at Swainsboro over the weekend, the Statesboro girls were able to rebound with a 45-41 victory over Beach in Tuesday evening’s first game.
    Shanikwa Buie scored 18 for the Devils while Caja Williams pitched in 15 more. Buie’s rebounding proved to be the difference down the stretch as she came up with the final three missed shots by Beach as Statesboro hung on for dear life.
    The Lady Devils (5-5) led at the end of the first, second and third quarters – and stretched their lead as far as eight points - but a pair of 3-pointers from Irie Spann tied the game at 40-40 with 5:13 to play.
    Statesboro took a 41-40 lead on Tanice Johnson free throw before Buie blocked a shot from Ollie Steadman (22 points) and went coast-to-coast for the layup.
    After a defensive stop, Williams split a double team and connected for the game’s final points.
For a team that is still gaining experience, it was a character-building win.
    “This was a really good one for us to get,” said SHS coach Jeff Seier. “We went up against a quality team and really got challenged. For us to be able to hang on and make one or two more plays at the end shows that we’re growing.”
    The Lady Devils will also finish off their pre-Christmas schedule with a tournament, traveling to Warner Robins on Thursday for the Bear Brawl.

    Mike Anthony may be reached at (912) 489-9404.