By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
The South Effingham boys basketball team erased another negative blemish that followed them into the 2024-25 season – getting a region/subregion win.
The Mustangs captured their first win in almost five years in their region/subregion standings by defeating visiting Glynn Academy, 67-57 on Saturday night.
South (6-10, 1-1 Region 1 South-5A) snapped a 51-game losing streak in region/subregion play going back to a 50-48 victory over Wayne County on Jan. 24, 2020.
“They want to win badly,” SEHS coach Rico Campbell said. “That’s the difference – leadership and maturity.”
Earlier this season, the Mustangs ended their overall 38-game losing streak, which lingered over parts of three seasons, and finally snapped a 17-year losing streak (34 games) to cross-county rival Effingham County.
Saturday night, South looked to make amends for a night to forget on Jan. 7 against Statesboro High. The Blue Devils shot out to a 30-point lead in the first half and finished with an 86-49 victory. The 37-point margin of defeat was the Mustangs’ biggest of the season.
But SEHS turned the narrative 180 degrees on the Red Terrors, who are struggling mightily during a 1-18 campaign. The Mustangs led 20-10 after the first quarter and maintained a comfortable lead most of the way.
“We couldn’t finish in the paint against Statesboro,” Campbell said. “We were able to get to the paint, but they either blocked or altered our shots.”
Defensively, South couldn’t stop the Blue Devils’ penetration. Campbell said the team worked on defense the rest of the week and the extra work paid off. Glynn’s 57 points (tied for second fewest allowed by the Mustangs in a game this season) were 15 points under SEHS’ season average.
McGuire and Hall had three of the team’s four 3-pointers against Glynn’s zone defense.
Junior Quinton Williams played well around the basket with 13 rebounds, two blocks and seven points.
Twelve different Mustangs scored points.
“We took what they gave us on defense. They all did a good job sharing the ball,” Campbell said.
Campbell says the team still has a lot to clean up – 21 missed free throws and 26 turnovers against Glynn – with upcoming matchups at home against 14-4 Bradwell Institute (Jan. 17) and on the road at Glynn Academy (Jan. 18) and at 14-1 Brunswick (Jan. 21).
“We’re looking toward the Bradwell and Brunswick games,” Campbell said. “We will have to play better than how we played against Statesboro and Glynn to win.”
SEHS girls drop two
South Effingham’s girls had a tough week, falling to Statesboro 54-36 on Jan. 7 and Glynn Academy 42-26 on Jan. 11.
Hayden Johanson was a bright spot for South with 14 points. Kailyn Chapman added 8 and Savannah France had 7.
