Last year, Glynn Academy beat Statesboro High School 54-38 at Glynn Academy. This year, it was a bit of redemption for the Blue Devils as Statesboro cruised to a 68-41 win over the Red Terrors Friday night at home.
    The Blue Devils outscored Glynn Academy 23-4 in the third quarter and held the Red Terrors to just 21 first-half points.
    Michael Salomon scored a game-high 22 points while Jaylan Patrick, going up against his former team, scored 14 points. Daniel Cooper came off the bench and hit a couple of three-point shots, he finished with eight points Friday night. Myles White and Traveyon Burns had six points each. Marcus Kirkland scored seven.
    Despite Statesboro’s 11-5 overall record, the Blue Devils are 3-2 in Region 3-AAAAA, making Friday’s win that much sweeter.
    “We can’t do anything about last year,” said SHS boys basketball coach Lee Hill after Friday’s win. “We can only focus on this year. We have a long season and there’s a lot of important (region) games ahead of us.”
    The Blue Devils defense swarmed Glynn Academy all night. Hill said the team’s defensive effort was the difference maker in the game.
    After halftime, Statesboro opened the third quarter going 4-for-5 from the field, sparking a Blue Devils’ 10-0 run.
    “From the jump, we played good defense. In the first half we had too many turnovers. At halftime I told my team to do me one favor,” Hill said. “I told them to stop turning the ball over and talk up a little bit more on defense. The offense will come. I think that was the difference in the game.”
    Statesboro now moves into the middle of the pack in the region standings. Entering Friday nights’ games, Effingham County led the region at 6-0, then Camden County at 4-1 and Brunswick sitting at 4-2.
    Statesboro will face region opponent Ware County on the road today at 7:30 p.m.

Lady Devils fall just short
    Coming into a Georgia High School Association region 3-AAAAA matchup at the Devils’ Den, the Lady Blue Devils had a perfect 7-0 home record while the Glynn Academy Lady Red Terrors posted a perfect 5-0 region record.
    With two of the top teams in the region squaring off Friday night, it would take a last second layup to make one of those records fall.
    Both teams played a highly-competitive game, but it was the Lady Red Terrors (15-1, 6-0 Region) who would remain undefeated in the region for the year beating Statesboro, 46-44.
    Staysha Everett led the way for the Lady Blue Devils with a team-high 13 points. Keeba Redfield gave Statesboro a boost with her acrobatic layups, scoring 11 points on the night. Daysha Everett and Kei-Sonna Rollins combined for nine points, scoring five and four respectively.
    Friday’s girls game went down to the wire. After Staysha Everett hit two free throws to tie the game 44-44 with just 6.4 seconds left to play, the Lady Red Terrors came back down to score on a Danesha Murray layup as time expired.
    “It hurts, but we’re proud,” said SHS girls basketball head coach Jeff Seier. “We we feel like we can play with anybody in the region.”
    Statesboro (11-4, 2-3 Region) will take on Ware County today at 6:30 p.m. at Ware County.