By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

SPRINGFIELD – South Effingham’s girls basketball team found itself in a familiar position, yet in a very foreign position at the same time against Effingham County on Saturday night.

The Mustangs trailed by 12 points in the first half and the slow start was hardly unique, but against ECHS, a team they had beaten 10 straight times by an average of 34 points a game?

Coach Alexus Parker talked Xs and Os with her players at halftime, but the key message was “we’re getting good shots, keep shooting.”

South kept shooting, shots began to fall, a double-digit deficit disappeared and the Mustangs left the Rebels gym with a hard-fought 45-39 victory, extending their dominance over ECHS to 11 straight games.

Hayden Johanson led the rally with 17 of her game-high 20 points in the second half.

“Any win is a good confidence booster, especially for the younger kids,” Parker said. “To see certain things happen and see what we work on in practice come to pass, that’s what it’s all about. There’s a learning curve for a young team. We know that.”

South (3-5) doesn’t have a senior and has just two juniors amid its cluster of 10 sophomores and two freshmen on the team. Only two starters are back.

It showed during a span of 11:47 when the Mustangs made just one field goal and a 6-5 lead became a 23-12 halftime deficit.

ECHS (1-3) took advantage of South’s struggles. High-scoring Kyjana Jordan played the role of facilitator and five different Rebels produced points in the half. Nakera Hawkins had 10.

Johanson’s 3-pointer put South in the lead, 33-32, with 4:20 left.

Johanson made two 3-pointers, a short bank shot and went 9-for-9 from the free-throw line in the second half.

Going into the game, she led the team in scoring averaging 13 points a game, but she had just one basket and made 1-of-4 from the line during the first half.

“It’s not a lack of skill with Hayden, it’s the confidence level,” Parker said. “If she misses some shots early, she’s learning to stay in the game (mentally) and soon those shots will start falling. In the first half, she was pushing shots. In the second half, she was getting more air under the shots and following through.”

Hawkins followed Johanson’s go-ahead 3-pointer with a layup that put ECHS back in front 34-33, but South swung back on top for good after Kailyn Chapman’s 3-pointer with 3:49 to go.

Chapman had eight of her 10 points in the second half. 

The Rebels missed six free throws in the final 2:40 to dampen a comeback bid.

Hawkins finished with a team-high 16 points. Jordan had 13 points, 10 in the second half.

The duo scored all 16 of ECHS’ second-half points.

But they couldn’t stop South from continuing a winning streak that goes back to Jan. 5, 2019 in the annual home-and-away matchups of cross-county schools.

The teams will meet again Jan. 25 in Guyton.

“I don’t think about the streak,” Parker said. “It’s much more about the kids. I teach them it’s a good rivalry game. Kids get bragging rights. They know we haven’t lost to Effingham in years. Even the middle school girls are undefeated against Effingham. That’s a standard we have at South and we want to keep it going.”