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SEHS takes a one-two punch from Bradwell, Brunswick
Corey Woods
South Effingham forward Corey Woods (No. 33) tries to snatch a rebound away from Brunswick's 6-foot-7, 265-pound Haze Kent (No. 22) on Saturday night. The Mustangs struggled to keep the visiting Pirates off the boards during a 73-46 loss. (Mark Lastinger for the Effingham Herald.)

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald


GUYTON – It was a weekend of basketball South Effingham coaches, players and fans wouldn’t mind forgetting.

The boys and girls struggled against Bradwell Institute and Brunswick – two of the better teams in Class 5A Region 1 – on Friday and Saturday with just one week left in the regular season before the region tournament.

“We had a little momentum going but this was rough,” Mustangs boys coach Rico Campbell said. “I don’t know which game was rougher.”

South lost all three games during the week, but Campbell was encouraged after leading Statesboro by a point going into the fourth quarter on Jan. 28.

But the Mustangs lost to Bradwell 84-50 on Friday night and followed with a 73-46 loss to Brunswick on Saturday night.

SEHS’ girls suffered one of their worst defeats ever in a 67-8 setback to Bradwell and were overwhelmed in the second half of a 61-30 loss to Brunswick.

Saturday was Senior Night, but the revelry in the gym wasn’t much comfort.

SEHS boys (7-14, 2-5 Region 1 South) surrendered 13 straight points to open the game against Brunswick. The previous night, the Mustangs trailed Bradwell by 15 (21-6) after the first quarter as both games spiraled out of control shortly after tip-off.

Saturday night, the Pirates’ physical talent led by 6-foot-7, 265-pound Haze Kent took over. Kent, a four-star football offensive tackle who has Alabama, Florida and Miami, Florida State as his top picks according to recruiting website 24/7 Sports, had 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half.

The Pirates had eight dunks.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well, we didn’t get back on defense and we didn’t defend well,” Campbell said. “You can’t win like that.”

In the second halves of their two weekend games, South’s girls (6-16, 0-7) were outscored 41-2 by Bradwell and 35-12 by Brunswick.

Bradwell’s girls, 20-2 with a 10-game winning streak, are ranked seventh in Class 5A by Score Atlanta.

On the boys side, Bradwell (18-4), Brunswick (18-2) and Statesboro (17-2) are a combined 53-8.

“We haven’t been playing chumps,” Campbell said.

SEHS’ boys and girls, already slotted for the South subregion No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed on Feb. 10, will finish the regular season tonight (Feb. 5) at home against Effingham County.

It’s a makeup of the Jan. 25 game that was postponed because of the snowfall earlier in the week. South’s boys won 63-62 and the girls rallied in the fourth quarter to pull out a 45-39 victory on Dec. 7.