By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

SAVANNAH – South Effingham’s girls played well during their first five minutes against Swainsboro on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 30, 2023) at the BallHer Showcase at Jenkins High School.

But the recent offensive struggles resurfaced and 27 minutes later the Mustangs were left with a 40-27 loss to the Tigers to extend their losing streak to four games.

“At this point in the season, you just want to play and not go into region games rusty. We’re still just trying to find ourselves,” said SEHS coach Alexus Parker about scheduling holiday games in Savannah.

The Mustangs lost to Trinity Catholic from Ocala, Florida, 35-27 Friday night, Dec. 29, 2023.

The Mustangs had that confidence builder – for five minutes – against Swainsboro. They raced out to an 11-0 lead on Olivia Collins’ three-pointer, Elena Hairston’s floater, Tyra Guyton’s three-point play, a short jumper by Hairston and a free throw by Guyton.

But South made just one field goal during the next 17 minutes and 20 seconds and suddenly trailed 23-17 midway through the third quarter.

Two layups by Kailyn Chapman trimmed Swainsboro’s lead to 23-21 and influenced a Tiger timeout.

But Swainsboro’s 5-foot-11 senior forward Tanyia Williams answered with consecutive buckets to up the lead back to six, 27-21.

Williams finished with a game-high 19 points, 13 in the second half.

It was 29-25 with about six minutes remaining, but Swainsboro ended the game on an 11-2 run to pull away.

The Tigers used multiple defenses to hold Hairston, SEHS’ all-region returnee, to nine points in the game.

“Elena has to do so much, handle the ball, defend against the other team’s best player, and score. She’s trying to do everything. There’s a lot on her,” Parker said.

South now turns its attention to cross-county rival Effingham County on Jan. 5 in Springfield. The Mustangs have won eight in a row in the series, including 64-25 and 60-20 last season.

“It’s a rivalry game. The community comes out and we celebrate both programs,” Parker said. “We don’t have the group we had last year so I think this game will be super competitive.”