The Statesboro Blue Devils defeated Effingham County by an average margin of over 21 points in their two previous games. Tuesday with the season on the line the Rebels put up a much better fight, but it was the Blue Devils extending their season with a 46-41 win in the region tournament.

“It really didn’t surprise me too much,” said Statesboro coach Keith LeGree. “This is a different atmosphere and Effingham played really hard. When you play in the region tournament if you lose you go home. There is a lot more pressure than there is in a regular season game. They played tough but I’m proud of our kids for making plays when they had to.”

Playing at home Statesboro came out flat not connecting on a field goal until there was less than 90 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Statesboro actually only hit five total field goals in the first half and trailed 23-15 at the half.

“I thought we really came out tight,” LeGree said. “I liked the way we were slashing to the goal and kicking the ball out. We just weren’t hitting, but they weren’t bad shots.”

In the second half Statesboro switched to a zone trap which bothered the Rebels creating turnovers. The Blue Devils took their first lead of the game on a Jacaiden Cone three-pointer with just under two minutes to play in the third quarter.

The Blue Devils went on to extend their lead to 36-28 in the fourth quarter, but Effingham didn’t go away. A 9-0 run would give the Rebels a short lived 37-36 lead with 3:45 left in the game. Less than 10 seconds later D.J. Brown connected on a three pointer and the Blue Devils would never relinquish the lead.

Brown was joined by fellow seniors Mohammed Shareef and Cam Wilkerson with making some big plays down the stretch when the Rebels would make it a one possession game.

“We really rode with our veteran guys in the second half,” LeGree said. “The seniors and JaCaiden were out there in crunch time because they have been battle tested. The guys that have been in the program and played on the court the longest is who we were going to win or lose with tonight. Thankfully they came up big when we needed them.”

Cone led the Blue Devils with 14 points while Wilkerson added 11. The victory puts the third seated Blue Devils on the road for the quarterfinals as they will travel to Number two seed Greenbrier. A victory would bring Statesboro back home for the semifinals and secure a spot in the state playoffs.

“We have done a pretty good job of turning things around after we have played a bad game,” LeGree said. “Greenbrier is a good team but I feel if we go out there and play Statesboro basketball we can come out on top.”

Statesboro and Greenbrier are scheduled for a 6:00 start.