With overtime win over Metter, Bryan County boys basketball team earns state playoff berth
PEMBROKE — Tanner Ennis plays wide receiver on the Bryan County High School football team. Sean Kelly Hill is the quarterback.
Their roles were reversed Friday night on a play Bryan County boys basketball coach Brent Anderson said “was pretty much the game.”
Clinging to a 61-58 lead over Metter with 31 seconds remaining in overtime, the Redskins were inbounding the ball following a Tigers score.
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Anderson called time to set up the inbounds play against the Metter press. What followed surprised everyone in the gym.
Ennis was the in-bounder and Hill — in the game because Devontae Bowers had fouled out — suddenly broke out of the pack and raced downcourt. The 6-foot Ennis, with Metter's 6-4 Cole McCranie draped over him, threw a perfectly placed pass which Hill took in stride for a layup.
Hill was fouled on the play and calmly made the free throw for a 64-58 lead. Freshman Elijah Mincey then tacked on two baskets to conclude a 68-58 win to enable Bryan County (16-5, 10-2 Region 3-A Public) to punch its ticket to the GHSA Class A Public state playoffs.
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"We knew they would be aggressive and I told them in the timeout, ‘Let’s throw it to the other end,’” Anderson said. “Tanner threw a perfect pass and Sean caught it in stride. They’re good athletes.”
Mincey scored 31 points — the third time this season he has scored 30 or more in a game — and Jamal Campbell added 11. Hill scored nine and Ennis eight as everyone in the lineup contributed in way form or another.
The win marked another comeback victory for the Redskins, who have made a habit this season of falling behind and then rallying to stun an opponent. Their 16 wins represent a 12-game improvement over last year when they were 4-14.
“This game tells everyone they’re going to have to play us to the buzzer,” Anderson said.
Bryan County, which led by 10 points in the third quarter, trailed by five points with 90 seconds to play in regulation but rallied to force overtime. It was its first overtime game of the season.
The win assured the Redskins of no worse than a second-place finish in the regular-season region race. The first- and second-place teams get automatic byes in the region tournament and thus a berth in the state playoffs.
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“This was so big,” Anderson said of the win. “This takes the pressure off. I did not want to see an elimination game in the region tournament.
“A loss like that would be really tough for this team. These kids have worked too hard and put in too much effort to have to deal with something like that.”
Metter led 54-49 only to see Mincey make a 3-pointer and then drain a pair of free throws with 1:29 to play to forge a 54-54 tie.
“I don’t know what to say,” Anderson said. “It’s almost impossible to come back like that against a good team.”
Bryan County led 28-24 at the half, and when Mincey scored the first six points of the third quarter, the lead quickly ballooned to 10. The Redskins still led by nine, 38-29, only to see Metter close on a 12-0 run, the last three coming on a trey by Dominque Harrison at the buzzer for a 41-38 lead which was a prelude for a finish which had a packed gym in a frenzy.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Bryan County High School Metter boys basketball game GHSA Georgia
