STATESBORO – The Langston Chapel Middle School Devils defeated the South Effingham Mustangs 54-32 at home in the semi-final match for the Coastal Empire Region Playoffs.
The first half was low scoring with the Devils only having nine team points by the end of the first quarter. They picked up the energy in the second going into halftime doubling their first quarter points and then some. They played the third quarter a little slow, only scoring 12 points in that quarter and doubled that in the fourth quarter.
The way that Langston was able to dominate the game was by the pressure they put on South Effingham in their full court press. The Devils wouldn’t let the Mustangs barely get past half court, and if they did, they were out rebounding the Mustangs, on both ends, so they were getting any second chance shots. The Devils would let the Mustangs breathe and by the end of the game had run them right out the gym.
Head coach for the Devils, Quincy Hills, talked about how well his team executed in Thursday night’s game and what they needed to do to be better.
“We played as a team,” Hills said. “We got some things we gotta work on defensively making sure we’re working together as one unit, but on offense we fed the post, we got it to our big men and made some good shots.”
The Devils win was a team effort. Leading scorer for the Devils was eighth grader, Charles Harris with 14 points. That performance was followed by Kevin Sello with 12 points, Skylar Bostic with 11 points, Zakarion Griffin with eight points, Andru Tuff with four points, Kayden Busby with three points and Keegan Ware with two points to the scoreboard.
The Devils go into this championship match up undefeated. The last time the boys won a region championship at Langston Chapel Middle School was in 2013 and coach Hills said they have used it as a big motivation for their team.
“We talk about it all the time,” according to Hills. “We haven’t seen a championship here in some years, so that’s definitely a big motivation for us to play together so we can put a banner up there and continue on with that Langston Chapel tradition.”
The LCMS Devils will be back in action on Saturday, January 27, 2024. They will be facing the Effingham Middle School Rebels at 12 p.m. for the Coastal Empire Region Championship game being held at Langston. The girls championship game will precede the boys at 10:30 a.m., where the William James Middle School Knights will be facing off against the South Effingham Mustangs. Tickets will be available at the door.