BROOKLET — Heading into the season, Southeast Bulloch girls coach Johnny Miller knew that contending with the schools from the Savannah area would be key for his team’s chances in Region 1-AAA.
    The Lady Yellow Jackets came up big in beating one of those schools, earning a 56-51 victory over Johnson of Savannah Tuesday night.
    SEB led by as many as 15 late in the game, then held off a charge in the final minutes.
    “Getting the win tonight was big for us,” said Miller. “I think it does a lot for our confidence. We weren’t able to get the job done when we went down to Johnson earlier in the season, so to come back and win this one was really important.”
    Jasmine Roberts led the charge for the Jackets (7-7, 5-5) with 22 points. Philicia Batton had one of her best outings of the season, adding 17 and Gloria Lingle pitched in 14.
    SEB took charge early as an efficient offense and good defense staked it to a 12-4 lead after the first quarter.
    “I thought that we handled Johnson’s press well,” said Miller. “We didn’t turn it over and got some good looks from breaking the press.”
    Both teams caught fire in the second quarter as the Jackets scored 24 points to the Atom Smashers’ 23 to take a 36-27 halftime advantage.
    SEB stayed hot in the second half as Roberts sank a quick pair of buckets.
    The Atom Smashers tried to keep pace, but a deep 3 by Lingle extended the lead to 48-35 late in the third quarter.
    Southeast Bulloch managed just four points in the fourth quarter, and the Atom Smashers were able to make things interesting, but couldn’t complete a dramatic comeback attempt.
    A layup by Batton made it a 54-41 with just over four minutes to play, but Johnson caught fire late. Alexandra Brooks (15 points) sandwiched a 3 between a pair of layups by Ashontianna Williams (12 points) and Johnson pulled within 56-51 with 43 seconds to play.
    A pair of SEB turnovers kept hope alive for the Atom Smashers, but they missed three shots from inside of 10 feet and SEB was able to hang on for the win.

SEB boys fall in rout
    Things didn’t go nearly as well for the SEB boys as they were beaten by a sound 96-43 margin in Tuesday’s final game.
    Tim Quarterman (20 points), Adrian Brooks (16), Sadiq Muhammed (15) and Devon Holmes (13) all reached double-digit scoring for Johnson as the Jackets had no answer for the Atom Smashers’ transition game.
    Johnson put the game away early, scoring the first 12 points of the second quarter to take a 36-15 lead. The Atom Smashers’ length proved to be too much for the Jackets (6-9, 5-4 Region 1-AAA) as SEB fell victim to a relentless pressing and trapping defense while also giving up 10 second chance points in the first half.
    Things only got worse in the third quarter as the Atom Smashers outscored SEB by a 28-10 margin with their first-stringers still playing and pressing heavily. Johnson finally called off the dogs early in the fourth quarter well after the outcome had been decided.
    Both Yellow Jacket squads venture out of region play on Saturday as they travel to Claxton.

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