By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
GUYTON – The South Effingham boys’ and girls’ basketball teams won thrilling games Feb. 10 in the opening round of Class 5A Region 1 tournament play.
Corey Woods’ layup with 29 seconds left snapped a tie and gave the fourth-seeded Mustang boys a 63-61 victory over No. 5 Glynn Academy.
In Statesboro, Kailyn Chapman’s two free throws with 1:12 provided the winning margin in the fifth-seeded SEHS girls’ 36-35 victory over No. 4 Statesboro.
Both teams advanced to today’s second round. The boys will travel to Evans and the girls will play at Greenbrier.
South’s boys beat Glynn twice during the regular season, but the late arriving Red Terrors – the bus driver got lost according to Mustangs coach Rico Campbell – stayed close most of the way and had a 52-51 lead with 4:54 to go.
The game was tied at 54, 57 and 61 in the final minutes before Woods’ layin.
“Corey has been unselfish all year and plays his role on the team,” Campbell said. “He shoots a high percentage and just took that ball to the basket with confidence.”
Glynn had one last chance and South’s defense deflected passes and a wild, loose-ball scramble ensued and the Terrors couldn’t get off a shot as time expired.
Will Harlin and Quinton Williams both finished with 13 points for team-high scoring honors Woods added eight and Corbin McGuire had nine.
In the girls game, South entered with a nine-game losing streak and had dropped contests to the Blue Devils by 18 and 10 points during the regular season.
This time, the Lady Mustangs made 13-of-18 free-throw attempts and sank five 3-pointers.
Chapman finished with nine points, tying Hayden Johanson for team high, and had all five of South’s fourth-quarter points.
Chapman, a 5-foot-3 point guard, also blocked a shot in the final seconds to preserve the win.
Three-pointers by Kaylan Hamilton and Cheniyah Jackson highlighted the Mustangs’ third-quarter success when South turned a four-point deficit (23-19) into a six-point lead 31-25 heading into the fourth quarter.
Statesboro tied the game at 34 with 1:31 left. The Mustangs regained the lead 19 seconds later on Chapman’s two free throws.
The Blue Devils inched within one, 36-35, with a free throw with 45 seconds remaining.
The Mustangs’ turned the ball over on a shot-clock violation on the next possession, but the blocked shot thwarted Statesboro’s last chance.
