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Statesboro sweeps Glynn Academy
SHS Basketball
Statesboro's Tim Taylor rises high to lift a shot over the Glynn Academy defense during the first half of Friday night's game at Statesboro High. - photo by JOSH AUBREY/staff

The Statesboro Blue Devils were happy to escape with a pair of wins Friday night and send the Glynn Academy boys and girls on the long bus ride back to Brunswick after the boys held on to win 61-59 and the girls beat the Red Terrors 57-54.


The boys game went back and forth throughout the game and late in the game a flurry of 3-pointers made for an exciting finish. Tray and Quay Dickens buried back-to-back 3s for Glynn, but the Blue Devils' Albert Mikell countered with a trio of long range bombs to give Statesboro a 59-56 lead. A 3 by the Terrors' Shane Payne tied the game at 59-59 with 1:45 left in the game. 


Statesboro responded as Jarquez Garrett drove the lane and hit a floater to give the Blue Devils a 61-59 lead with 40 seconds remaining.


The Terrors missed on consecutive opportunities in the paint and eventually had to foul Mikell with 29 seconds left. Mikell missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity and then Tyson Rooks missed a layup with 12 seconds left. The Terrors again fouled Mikell who missed the front end of another one-and-one chance and Glynn Academy rebounded the ball and called time out.


Statesboro had two fouls to give and gave one up on Rooks inside with 1.9 seconds left in the game. The Terrors called a time out and set up their final play, but the pass was a little over the head of the 6-5 Rooks. Garrett picked off the pass and the clock ran out.


“It was such a tough game,” said Statesboro coach Keith LeGree. “I knew this team would match up with us because they have shooters and some size. They played a good sagging defense and have some size and this is one of the top four teams in our region in my opinion.”


The game was played primarily in the paint in the first half with Rooks leading the charge for the Terrors and Leslie Black for the Blue Devils who trailed 27-24 at the half. Statesboro went on a run in the third quarter to go up 42-35, and led by as many as six in the fourth quarter, but the Red Terrors fought back and both occasions to tie the game.


“Everyone is going to be gunning for us every night and we need to be ready for that,” said LeGree. “I felt like Jarquez and Albert both played really well for us tonight, and Leslie was a beast inside on the blocks.”


Rooks led all scorers with 24 points and was an impressive 8-9 from the free throw line. While Albert Mikell led Statesboro with 18 points including 16 in the second half. Leslie Black came through with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Garrett added 10 points. No. 6 ranked Statesboro improves to 13-0 overall and 5-0 in region play.


Up next Statesboro will host Benedictine Saturday with the JV playing at 4:30 and the varsity at 6 p.m.



Lady Devils 54, Lady Terrors 51

With the exception of a loss to Grovetown last week, the No. 10 Statesboro Lady Blue Devils haven’t been in a dog fight this season. Glynn Academy gave Statesboro all it could handle Friday night, getting within a point with less than 13 seconds remaining, but an uncontested layup by Ashari Washinton with less than three seconds to play helped the Blue Devils squeak out a 54-51 victory to improve to 14-1 overall and 5-0 in region play.


“We really played well tonight especially on defense,” said coach Marty Holder. “Glynn is a scrappy team and we play in a tough region and we know we are in for a battle each game.”


Foul issues nearly did Statesboro in Friday night. The Blue Devils were already playing without the services of leading rebounder and leading scorer Alyssa Staten and lost two more players early in the fourth as Malaya Dekle and Azziza Flowers fouled out with over six minutes to go in the game.


The Red Terrors shot 23 free throws in the game going 13-23 in the game. The Terrors also scored all but one of their field goals in the paint. The Blue Devils would lead by as many as 13 points in the game, but each time the Red Terrors would come back to chip away at the Statesboro advantage.


“A lot of our younger players had a chance to play tonight,” said Holder. “I was very impressed by the way a lot of those younger girls played when their numbers were called and that will really help us with depth as the season goes along,”


The Red Terrors Paris Smith led all scorers with a game-high 26 points. Statesboro was led by Reya Johnson and Kaylee Wedlow who each had 13 points. Up next Statesboro will travel to Brunswick Friday at 6:00.



Portal splits with Bryan Co.

Amir Jackson had a career night, totalling 22 points and matching it with 22 rebounds for Portal against Bryan County Friday night.


The Panthers needed every bit of Jackson's effort as they wrestled away a 59-57 win from the Redskins. 


Jackson was aided by Elijah Coleman and Chandler Grooms, who scored 16 and 10 points, respectively.


Portal snapped a three-game losing streak on Friday and will get back to full strength Saturday against Claxton when several players — suspended nearly a month after a scuffle at Treutlen — return to the lineup.


The Lady Panthers didn't fare nearly as well as Bryan County hit the gass early and never let up.


Shaneisha Coleman's six points accounted for more than half of Portal's total as the Lady Redskins ran away with an easy 43-11 rout.



Liberty tops SEB in OT

Liberty County nearly doubled its scoring total in the fourth quarter, scoring 26 points to erase a large deficit and take Southeast Bulloch into overtime. The Panthers prevailed in the extra period, claiming a 71-68 victory to send SEB to an 0-3 start in region play.


Liberty's Corey Love dropped a game-high 33 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, to key the comeback. 


A.J. Williams led SEB with 21 points, with Ryon Reed tallying 16.


The SEB girls didn't play their scheduled game on Friday evening as COVID concerns withing the Lady Panthers team forced the game to be postponed.