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SEB sweeps Bryan County
120407 SEB HOOPS 1
Southeast Bulloch's Chris Rogers (21) blows by Bryan County defender Justin Bostick, right, for a score Tuesday night in Brooklet. The Yellow Jackets swept the Redskins in Tuesday night’s double header.
    BROOKLET — Crystal Mikell knocked down fifteen points, Olivia Melvin added 14 and Kacey Jones grabbed 10 rebounds as the Southeast Bulloch Lady Yellow Jackets (3-4, 1-0 Region 3-AA) advanced their winning streak to three with a convincing 48-27 home win over non-region foe Bryan County Tuedsay.
    The Jackets had eight different scorers in the winning effort.
    “Tonight, we got a lot of people in,” said first-year Southeast Bulloch coach Mark Smith, “and a lot of different people contributing. I think that was big, and that is important.”
    After scoring only nine points in the season opener against Statesboro, the SEB offense has started to find an identity.
    “We understand how to get the ball up the floor a little bit better,” Smith said. “We were running our secondary break a little more, and people are starting to hit some shots. We are hitting the wide open shots. We’re starting to get them and we are starting to knock them down. I’ve told the girls, ‘The only way you are going to get them is to keep shooting.’”
    Both defenses were tight at the start of the game when neither team got on the scoreboard for the first 2:26. The Yellow Jackets ended the scoring draught when Ashley Clifton tossed it outside along the baseline to Jones for a 3-pointer that broke the 0-0 tie.
    The offense hit its groove from there and never let up, taking a 10-1 lead into the second quarter and never looking back.
    Melvin nailed two 3’s in the contest, and the Jackets moved the ball around with five different players recording an assist.
    The win over the Lady Redskins has helped pull SEB out of the 0-4 hole that began the season, and Smith feels that he has a better grasp of exactly where his team is as it heads into the region schedule.
    “(Bryan County) is at our level right now,” said the SEB coach. “Their program is in the same shape we are, and it’s a good measuring stick as to how far we’ve come. We play them again next week. There will be a big difference — they’ll be better prepared for us. Hopefully, we won’t have a let down.”
    Tara Miles led the Redskins with six points, and Samantha Howard and Shantel Jones each added four. The Jackets out rebounded BCHS 33-22, blocked five shots and recorded 18 steals on the night.

Yellow Jackets 63, Redskins 50
    Winston Johnson put up 20 points for the Bryan County Redskins, but it wasn’t enough as the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets (2-4, 0-1 Region 3-AA) got their second win of the season cruising to a 63-50 final Tuesday night in Brooklet.
    The Redskins put up a fight, tying the game at 18 with 6:36 to go until halftime, but the Jackets pulled away after that under strong performances by Chris Rogers (17 points, eight rebounds), Tony Raymond (16 points) and James Scott (10 points, eight rebounds).
    “(Rogers, who scored 12 points in the first quarter) got off to a great start for us,” said SEB coach John Page. “He kind of opened up some things outside for Tony Raymond.”
    Leading 53-37 heading into the fourth quarter, Page cleared his bench and got in some valuable minutes for his team.
    “I felt like we could have executed a little bit better early with the older group in there,” Page said. “But we did enough in the second half to get ahead.
    Southeast Bulloch returns to the court when they head to Augusta Friday night to take on Laney, a region opponent. The girls tip off at 6 p.m. and the boys get started at 7:30.
    When SEB returns home to host Metter on Saturday, it will honor a living legend. Southeast Bulloch and Statesboro High Hall-of-Famer George Roebuck — founder of the basketball program at SEB among many other accolades — will be recognized for his contributions throughout southeast Georgia. The ceremony will take place in SEB’s new gym at 5:45 p.m.

    Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9404.