By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
Fourth-quarter pressure doesn’t seem to bother the South Effingham girls basketball team.
The Mustangs saw visiting Swainsboro trim a five-point advantage to one twice during the final eight minutes before pulling away for a 45-37 win on Friday night.
South (5-7) has won three of its last five games after Saturday’s 52-38 loss to Bryan County, but both weekend games showed the Mustangs were trending upward.
SEHS dropped its first meeting with Bryan County 56-31 on Nov. 23. Saturday night, the Mustangs were 11 points closer.
Five of South’s seven losses have been against teams with excellent records – two against 10-1 Bryan County, two to 8-2 Camden County and one to 8-3 Monroe.
Friday night, South had early problems with Swainsboro (3-5) but closed out the Tigers by finishing on a 16-9 run. Kailyn Chapman hit three baskets to begin the run and Hayden Johanson added six straight points to extend the margin of victory.
South produced 18 points in the fourth quarter despite making just 3-of-10 free-throw shots in the final 3:14.
Big fourth quarters are becoming commonplace for the Mustangs, who fought back from late deficits to beat Johnson and Effingham County.
Swainsboro had a 13-8 lead after the first quarter, led by Tonia Ricks’ eight points.
And the Mustangs looked vulnerable when Chapman, a sophomore point guard, picked up her third foul at 5:44 of the second quarter.
The Tigers inched ahead by six, 20-14, on Treasure Dixon’s free throw with 3:20 remaining in the first half.
But the whistles eventually caught up with the Tigers, who had two starters foul out. Two others ended the game with four fouls.
South had two players with four fouls and two others with three at the end.
Overall, the two teams combined for 42 fouls and two technicals.
The Mustangs surged ahead with a 13-2 run during a 9:35 span of the second and third quarters.
And resilient South held off Swainsboro with some clutch shooting down the stretch.
Johanson led the Mustangs with 16 points, including eight in the fourth quarter.
Alayiah Lewis added 10 points and Chapman had nine, six coming during a key three-minute span of the fourth quarter.
Ricks led all scorers with 17 points.
SEHS will remain active during the holiday break with two games in the BallHer Showcase at Jenkins High School in Savannah.
The Mustangs will play Cedar Shoals at 2:30 p.m. on Friday and McDonough at 4 p.m. on Saturday.