By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
GUYTON – On a night when a familiar face returned to the visiting sidelines, South Effingham’s defense made an untimely no show on the basketball court.
Former Mustang coach Jason Napier, now coaching at Bryan County, basked in the winning end after his Redskins abruptly turned a close game into an 80-52 rout Saturday night.
“It was special. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t,” Napier said. “It was good to be back in Effingham and see a lot of people I know from the school. I still live here. I’ve been here 25 years and love this place.”
Napier spent many years as an assistant under Effingham County coach Jake Darling, now the Rebels athletic director, before leaving to become South’s boys’ basketball head coach for the 2020-21 season.
Napier returned to the SEHS court with a high-powered Class A squad that broke away from the Mustangs with a 12-0 run in the final 1:09 of the first half and a 15-1 run as the knockout punch in the third quarter.
The first burst turned a 30-29 game into a 42-29 Bryan halftime lead.
The second run expanded the Redskins’ eight-point lead (44-36) into a 59-37 runaway.
“Our defense just went away,” SEHS coach Rico Campbell said. “They drove on us, they got layups, they’d kick it out and get threes. We didn’t make any shots.”
It was a discouraging showing for the Mustangs (1-3), who opened the season optimistically after defeating Woodville-Tompkins (a 22-win team last season) to break a 38-game losing streak.
South, playing without leading scorer Will Harlin, made just 20-of-68 field-goal attempts Saturday night .
“We have to get better,” Campbell said. “We can’t rest on our laurels because we beat one team. We have to bring (intensity) every game and we can’t worry about all the other stuff.”
Quinton Williams led South with 14 points, but seven came after Bryan’s advantage ballooned to 30 in the final minutes.
On the other side of the court, Napier looked forward to a happy, short ride back to the neighborhood.
He had five double-digit scorers, led by Elijah Mincey’s 19 points.
“It was nice to come back,” Napier said. “The boys played well and we have a good group. They’ve played a lot of basketball (together) and it showed tonight. It’s always nice to be on the winning end.”
Slow start dooms SEHS girls
South Effingham’s girls made just one field goal during a span of more than 11 minutes in the first half and lost to visiting Bryan County 56-31 Nov. 23.
The Mustangs (1-2) led 6-4 midway through the first quarter before the Redskins went on a 21-3 run to put the game away.
Bryan led 12-6 after the first quarter, 25-9 at halftime and 42-17 after three quarters.
SEHS shot 22 percent (11 of 50) from the field and 36 percent (8 of 22) from the free-throw line.
Hayden Johanson led SEHS with 10 points. Kailyn Chapman added six.
Jasmine Mikell paced Bryan (3-0) with 17 points.
WRESTLING
SEHS wins Westside Thanksgiving Classic
South Effingham continued its perfect start to the dual wrestling season with a win at the seven-team Westside Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday.
Christopher Hardeman (9-0 in 106-pound weight class), Tahrik Bailey (11-0 at 113), Noah Knowlton (11-2 at 126), Emilio Santana (8-0 at 132), Moose Bringer (13-0 at 165) and Zach Utnehmer (10-2 at190) each took first-place in their respective weight classes.
Mayson Young (12-1) was second in the 120-pound weight class.
Three girls in the Mustangs’ program – Brooklyn Hughes, Leann Hill, and Emma Williams – picked up their first wins of the season. Hughes won four matches and captured the 155-pound weight class title.
