With two talented teams playing in front of a packed house at the Devils’ Den, Tuesday’s game between Effingham County and Statesboro felt more like March than November.
    Fortunately for the Blue Devils, a playoff atmosphere didn’t have postseason ramifications as Effingham County nursed small leads through much of the game, then pulled away late for a 57-50 victory.
    “We played a good, hard game,” said SHS coach Lee Hill. “I think that we played pretty well for the most part. We got a little tired at the end, but hopefully we can grow on that.”
    Jakeenan Gant dominated on both ends of the floor for the Rebels (3-0), scoring a team-high 23 points and pulling down 14 rebounds.
    Zaquavian Smith led all scorers with 25 points for the Devils (2-1), but began to cramp up midway through the third quarter and missed almost an entire quarter of playing time. Johnathan Taylor drew the tough assignment of guarding Gant and also went down with cramps before fouling out late in the game.
    “That’s something that you sometimes have to deal with early in the season,” said Hill. “We’re still trying to get used to playing four hard quarters and we went into the night without a deep bench. Those injuries really started to take their toll late in the game.”
    The entire first quarter was a track meet as both teams took turns racing down the floor, firing at will and shooting high percentages from the field.
    Yakeem Coleman nailed a short jumper and a 3 for Statesboro’s first points while Jay Wright (15 points, 6 rebounds) registered the first six points for the Rebels.
    The fast pace led to some hard fouls and hot tempers. O’Aaron Ware was tagged with an early technical foul for the Devils and Gant received one of his own minutes later before the teams finished the first eight minutes tied at 15-15.
    Gant and Smith took over for their respective teams in the second quarter. Smith brought the crowd to a fever pitch with a steal and a thunderous one-handed slam midway through the second quarter, but a pair of 3’s and a few free throws from Gant pushed Effingham to a 29-26 lead at halftime.
    Gant proved to be too much for SHS in the third quarter.
    On three consecutive Blue Devil possessions, Gant pulled down rebounds on missed shots and followed up with a bucket on the other end. With Smith hobbled and knocked out of the game, the Rebels extended their advantage to 47-37 after three quarters.
    “We got a lot of good looks and hit them early on,” said Hill. “I think that we continued to get good shots, but injury and fatigue hurt us a little too much late in the game.”
    Effingham continued to stay a step ahead of the Devils and grew the lead as wide as 54-43 late in the fourth quarter. Late buckets by Smith and Ware closed the gap, but Effingham easily ran off too much clock for the Devils to wage a comeback bid.

Lady Devils fall in final seconds
    The Statesboro girls got their first taste of defeat so far this season, as they dropped a 38-36 decision to Effingham County in Tuesday’s first game.
    The Lady Devils (4-1) fell behind early, but rallied hard in the second half. Statesboro led by as much as 36-31 late in the game, but the Lady Rebels (3-0) scored the game’s final seven points to steal away with the win.
    “It was nice to have such a great crowd and to get a good challenge from an opponent,” said SHS coach Jeff Seier. “I thought that we played pretty well and pretty hard, but Effingham just had a little more than we did tonight.”
    Effingham County took advantage of three SHS misses in the last two minutes to complete the comeback. Kiesha Lewis hit a layup with just under a minute to go and the Devils committed an illegal screen to squander an opportunity to retake the lead.
    Given another possession, the Rebels ran the clock down and Machala Raymonville banked a runner off the glass and in with 25.3 seconds to go. Shanikwa Buie (13 points) got the ball down low for the Devils on their next possession, but couldn’t connect or draw a foul from underneath the Effingham basket and the Rebels took over with 5.1 seconds to play.
    A missed free throw gave the Devils one more chance, but Caja Williams’ desperation heave fell short as the final buzzer sounded.
    Effingham led by as much as 21-12 early in the third quarter before the Devils stormed back.
    Buie and Keyonna Gusby combined for eight points in the third quarter as Statesboro took a 28-25 lead into the final eight minutes.
    “I was proud of the way our girls fought and came back,” said Seier. “Unfortunately for us, Effingham is a pretty good team and was able to do the same thing.”
    Both Statesboro squads return to action Friday as the Devils hit the road to take on Richmond Hill. The Lady Devils will be seeking some revenge as Richmond Hill defeated them in the Region 2-AAAA championship game last season.

    Mike Anthony may be reached at (912) 489-9404.