BROOKLET — In a game full of big shots, Southeast Bulloch came up just a couple short.
    Trailing by a point in the closing seconds, SEB’s Kaelin Jones pulled down an offensive rebound and drew a foul with just 1.8 seconds to play. But Jones couldn’t get either of his free throw attempts to fall and Bryan County escaped with a 35-34 victory.
    “This is a tough one to take,” said SEB coach John Page. “I feel bad for our guys. There were a lot of tears after this one, but that tells me that everyone cares and is giving it their best shot. That’s all I can ask of them.”
    In a game that was nip-and-tuck the whole way through, the final minutes were even more dramatic.
    The lead changed hands six times in the fourth quarter, but a pair of free throws from Devonte Frazier with 50.6 seconds left proved to be the winning margin for the Redskins who earned their first win of the season Saturday.
    Saturday’s loss put a damper on what was otherwise a great sendoff for the SEB seniors.
    Josh Suchosky turned in one of his best performances of the season with 16 points and Patrick White’s six points all came in crucial spots. David Johnson also played his final home game for the Jackets and pulled down three early rebounds.
    “I’m proud of our seniors,” said Page. “They all played like you’re supposed to play on Senior Night. They played well enough to get the win. It just didn’t happen for us.”
    The game started slowly for both teams.
    Jamal Johnson’s two free throws gave the Jackets the early lead, but it wasn’t until the 5:38 mark of the first quarter that Suchosky’s 3 marked the first field goal of the game.
    The Jackets and Redskins continued their deliberate play and Suchosky’s driving layup through traffic gave SEB a 7-6 lead after the first eight minutes.
    Albert Chavis — who led Bryan with 12 points — nailed consecutive jumpers to put the Redskins in the lead early in the second quarter.
    Suchosky pulled the Jackets back into the game with two more jumpers midway through the period, but Chris Morgan scored twice in the paint in the half’s final 1:20 to give Bryan an 18-15 advantage at the break.
    A jumper by White got SEB within a point early in the third quarter and Suchosky connected on a deep 3 at the 4:32 mark to tie the game at 20-20.
    A White layup less than a minute later reclaimed the lead for the Jackets and they hung tight to keep a 26-22 edge heading into the final quarter.
    Four Bryan County free throws in the first 34 seconds of the fourth quarter quickly knotted the game up again and set up the frantic finish.
    With the regular season complete, SEB moves ahead to the Region 3-AA tournament.
    The Jackets travel to Sylvania Monday to take on Screven County in the play-in round.
    “Tonight was tough, but we have to bounce back,” said Page. “Hopefully, all of the emotion from this one will light a spark for us on Monday.”

Lady Redskins 63, Lady Jackets 46
    The Southeast Bulloch girls suffered the same fate as Bryan County walked away with a 63-46 win in the first game of the night.
    Olivia Melvin (19 points), Tiffany Howard (12) and Senorita Ivey (11) all reached double-digits in scoring as the Lady Redskins’ balanced offense proved to be too strong for SEB.
    Playing in her final home game, Crystal Mikell led the Lady Yellow Jackets with 16 points. Fellow senior Hannah Denmark recorded seven rebounds on the night.
    The Redskins started off strong with a 30-point first quarter that set the tone for the rest of the night and gave them a lead they never relinquished.
    Despite having a size advantage over the Jackets, Bryan built its lead from outside of the paint. All of Melvin’s 15 first-half points came from behind the arc and each of Howard’s 12 points quarters were earned from the free throw line.
    SEB controlled the Redskin attack in the second half, but Bryan County’s trapping defense proved to be too tough to break through and the Jackets were unable to climb back into the game.

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