STATESBORO -- Effingham County will enter the Class AAAAAA state tournament at Region 2's No. 4 seed after losing the region tournament consolation game to Brunswick 66-56 on Friday at Statesboro High School.
ECHS (18-7) will play at Evans High on Feb. 24 in the first round of state.
The Rebels struggled offensively Friday and made just one 3-pointer against a team they had beaten twice this season.
Keion Wallace scored 24 points -- 15 in the second half -- to keep ECHS in striking distance. Ashley Thompson's layup midway through the third quarter gave the Rebels a brief 32-31 lead, but the Pirates answered with eight straight points. ECHS whittled its deficit to three, 52-49, with about 5 1/2 minutes to go but Brunswick scored the next six points to pull away.
Caleb Williams finished with 13 points for the Rebels.