The Statesboro Blue Devils were swept Tuesday night at home as the girl’s fell 66-34 and the boy’s dropped a 58-49 decision to the Tigers. It was the first region loss of the season for both teams.
For the Statesboro boys (14-2, 2-1) it was a humbling loss as they came in having beat their last eight opponents by at least 27 points. The Tigers were the first real test of the season and according to head coach Keith LeGree, the Blue Devils failed the test.
“That was the worst game we have played in a long time,” LeGree said. “We failed to execute and I didn’t think our leadership was good. I felt like our strength was our guards against their guards and I felt like their guards did a better job of managing the game than our guards did.”
Despite struggling from the free throw line and from behind the arc, the Blue Devils actually took a 25-23 halftime lead on their only three pointer of the game, which came from Cam Wilkerson just before the buzzer. Statesboro and Bradwell were tied in the third quarter at 34-34 before the Tigers went on a 7-0 run. The Blue Devils were unable to get within five points the rest of the game.
“Coming into the game we felt like they had to score in the paint to beat us,” LeGree said. “We did a decent job in the post, but they really hurt us in transition and in getting second chance shots. We didn’t do a good job of sharing the ball. We penetrated and decided to just go one-on-one. We’ve had success driving and kicking to the corners but we didn’t do any of that tonight.”
Statesboro was led by JaCaiden Cone with 25 points. No other Blue Devil managed to get into double figures. Bradwell was led by Zion Thomas with 15 points while Chris Perry added 14 points.
The Statesboro Lady Blue Devils beat Bradwell 66-60 at home last season. This time around Tiger head coach Faye Baker looked to send a message as she kept her starters in the whole game in a 66-34 blowout over the Blue Devils. Statesboro head coach Marty Holder didn’t take it personally and is anxious to have another shot at the Tigers.
“This is Bradwell and she is going to do that,” Holder said. “If I have the chance, I will do it to them. It is a Bradwell vs. Statesboro rivalry and that sometimes happens. I thought we played with great effort tonight and had one really bad quarter. I now have some tape on them and I think it will be a different story the next time we play.”
The Blue Devils hung around in the first half and trailed by only five at the end of the first quarter. Bradwell put things away in the second quarter as they outscored the Blue Devils 24-7. Statesboro had 18 turnovers in the first half which Holder said was just too much to overcome.”
“That second quarter really just killed us,” Holder said. “We played pretty well in the first and third quarter, but against a team like this, you can’t let them get going. When you are down by 20 points, you can’t just trade baskets. We worked hard preparing against their press but in the second quarter we really turned the ball over too much.”
The Blue Devils fall to 8-9 overall and 2-1 in region play. Statesboro was led by Gerziya Haggray with 11 points. Bradwell was paced by Destiny McLemore with 17 points as they improve to 17-2 overall and 3-0 in region play. Up next Statesboro travels to Glynn Academy Friday for a 6:30 start.