The Statesboro High Basketball and Cheer teams recognized thier seniors on Saturday evening. The Blue Devils hosted the Glynn Academy Terrors in the final games of the regular season.
Terece Gibson, Kennedi Hart, Sophia Pellegrino, Jayla Smiley, Krishonti WIlliams and Kelli Warren are the seniors for the cheer team.
Camdyn Wilkerson, Marcus Hartwell, Dartavian "DJ" Brown, Muhummad Shareef, and Bruce Davis are the seniors for the boys basketball team. Drew Prosser is the manager.
Gerziya Haggray, Azziza Flowers, Jalayah Collins, and Lindsay Johnson are the seniors for girls basketball team. Erin Thompson is the manager.
Lady Devils' Turnovers Doom Season Finale
The Lady Devils found themselves facing off against one of the top teams in the region in Glynn Academy. They fell behind early and couldn't dig their way out of the hole they were in as they lost 50-35.
Both teams were having trouble putting the ball in the basket in the opening period. Both the Blue Devils and Terrors ran a press defense that sped the pace of the game up and kept both teams out of rhythm offensively. That was until Glynn Academy went on a small run to go up 12-6 at the end of the first.
In the second quarter, things began to go left for the Lady Devils. They were having trouble advancing the ball into the frontcourt and allowed Glynn to go on another run at the start of the period. Following the Terrors' run, Coach Marty Holder subbed out 4 of the starter to see what the second unit could do. Statesboro showed some life late in the half, but had already dug themselves a 29-14 hole.
The turnover woes continued in the second half and the lead expanded for the Terrors. Glynn Academy found themselves up by as much as 22 in the 3rd. The offense was a lot better for Statesboro in the 4th. They were able to create open look from deep which the team began to capitalize off of.
Head Coach Marty Holder talked about what his team had to do going into the region tournament. "Right now we just have to keep our confidence up," Holder said. "We made some negative plays today. We turned the ball over a pretty good bit, so we got to be stronger with the ball and we have to rebound."
The Lady Devils finished with a 10-14 record with a 3-6 record in region play. They will host South Effingham on Monday in the 1st round of the region tournament. "If we are going to do what we are supposed to do, we have to win 5 games in 5 days. Hard feat but at this time of the season, anybody can hit their stride at the right time. It is win or go home and we just have to go out there and play hard."
Azziza Flowers led the Lady Devils in scoring with 11. Jalaya Collins was the second-leading scorer with 7. Other contributors were Maggie O'Niell, Lindsay Johnson, Kennedy Myers, Savannah Howell, and Lamya Dietz.
Statesboro Boys Pull Away in the 4th
The Boys Varsity team had region playoff implications entering Saturday's game. With a win, they could potentially be the 2nd seed in the upcoming tournament. A big 4th quarter led to the Blue Devils winning 68-50.
The final score doesn't depict how tight this game was through its majority. Glynn Academy came out playing hard with reckless abandon as they crashed the offensive glass and came away with several second chance points. Statesboro had beat the Terrors by 48 points in their last matchup. Revenge was on Glynn Academy's mind as they came out on fire and ended the 1st with a 15-11 lead.
The second quarter was like two boxers trading blows with one another. For every basket one team scored, their opponents responded with one of their own. Statesboro's Ja'caiden Cone opened things up for his team when he ended the half with back to back buckets. Statesboro led 27-22 at the end of the first half.
The third quarter saw Glynn Academy roar back into the game to cut the lead all the way down to 1. Cone once again came up big for his team with timely baskets to ensure that Statesboro stayed in front.
The final period was all Statesboro as they started to rain down the 3s and lock in on the defensive end. Cone set the tone with 2 3-pointers early and the rest of the team followed suit. Before you knew it, Statesboro's lead was up to 20.
Head Coach Keith Legree talked about his team's play in the closing period. "It is very important that we do the small things. The small things that we didn't do earlier tonight. Guys have to be in the gaps with intentions to help and recover. The intentions weren't there early in the game we were just there. That's why I feel like these guys stayed in the game longer than they have in the past because our execution on the defensive end wasn't there."
Statesboro is the 3rd seed for the region tournament. They have a bye and their first game will be at home. Coach Legree talked about what his thought process is going into the postseason. "We are mainly just making sure our guys understand what is ahead of us," Legree said. "We had a great season so far, but we have done nothing yet." Legree said their goal as a team is to win the region championship and get past the 2nd round in the state playoffs.
Ja'Caiden Cone paced all scorers in the game with 20 points. DJ Brown and Camdyn Wilkerson followed up with 15 and 11 points respectively. Other contributors were Jordan Grant, Marcus Hartwell, Shyterious James, Muhammad Shareef, and Bruce Davis.
Up Next:
Next for both teams is the region playoffs. The girls will host South Effingham on Monday at 6pm. The boys are waiting to see how things play out before their first region playoff game.
