By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
GUYTON — A misleading final score gave a false impression Friday night. Effingham County and South Effingham basketball fans packed the SEHS gym and both sides had plenty to cheer about.
But for the 29th straight time, the Rebels celebrated last.
The ECHS boys continued their dominance of the cross-county rivalry with a 67-43 victory over the Mustangs.
The Rebels haven’t lost to SEHS since Jan. 6, 2007.
ECHS (3-6, 1-1 Region 2-AAAAAA) has won the last 14 meetings by double digits.
But a new season brought renewed interest in the rivalry. Both schools had enthusiastic student sections and an overflowing crowd stood along the walls behind the baskets.
Mustangs coach Rico Campbell said the night was being touted as “Black Out Night” and t-shirts were printed. SEHS’ pep band kept the energy high.
The Mustangs (1-6, 0-2 Region 2-AAAAAA) had an early 13-11 lead, but Keion Wallace’s layup tied the game and his 3-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer pushed the Rebels into a lead they never relinquished.
ECHS built a 17-point, third-quarter advantage — 47-30 — but the Mustangs responded with an 11-1 run, getting within 48-41 with six minutes to play.
“That was one of the more competitive South games in recent years,” ECHS coach Jake Darling said. “They’re tough, they’re scrappy and they never gave up.”
The Rebels displayed resiliency as well. With ECHS clinging to its suddenly fading lead, Rashad Scott sank two free throws, added a putback basket, then stole the inbound pass and dished to Wallace for a dunk and the Rebels had a big cushion again.
ECHS ended the game on a 19-2 run.
“Basketball is a game of runs and we limited their runs with our defense,” Darling said.
Wallace finished with 18 points, 12 in the second half. Older brother Khiry Wallace added 12 points and Scott had 11, 10 coming in the fourth quarter.
SEHS’ Andrew Butler finished with a game-high 21 points and helped shoot the Mustangs back in the game with three 3-pointers in the second half.
“(Butler) had a great game and did a lot of the scoring. We just didn’t have people step up to help him,” Campbell said.
Campbell said his squad’s inability to rebound also played a crucial factor in the game.
“Our nemesis is rebounding and they killed us on the glass,” Campbell said. “We’re undersized. We just have to keep working on it. …
“At the end of the day, Keion turned it on. It was getting close and he finished it off. That’s what great players do.”
Darling saw flaws in the Rebels’ performance against SEHS, which surfaced Dec. 7 in a 69-54 loss to Statesboro and again Saturday night in a 38-37 setback to May River.
“I wasn’t happy with our offensive execution, which has been the story of our season so far,” he said.
