Leading 22-21 entering the second half, the Pirates took a stronghold on the contest when they shifted into a zone defense to open the third period. Brunswick (15-3, 6-2) outscored Glynn Academy (10-8, 4-6) 16-2 in the decisive quarter by forcing turnovers and getting easy baskets out in transition.
“Third quarter, we got a lot of deflections, and we were able to get our hands on a lot of different loose balls; 50-50 balls, we were getting them all in the second half,” said BHS head coach Maria Mangram. “And that’s what I told them — you have to respect them. No, they’re not the No. 1 team, but you still have to respect them because this is a rivalry game. Kids are going to play harder than they’ve ever played before just because they have so much on this game.
“But this is a region game for us. We fell short last night, and we had to come up with a win today. We couldn’t lose again because it would have dropped us out of second completely.”
The Terrors have struggled this season relative to recent years after graduating its entire starting five from the Class 6A runners up of a year ago. The road got even rockier for Glynn this past week, playing four region contests in five nights after the program was suspended for positive COVID tests.
But the Terrors were still without one of its most experienced players in point guard Akirria Mountain, and her loss was felt during the Pirates’ third-quarter run.
Glynn Academy had difficulty breaking Brunswick’s zone without the services of its primary ball handler and its top post player in Shamaya Flanders, who spent a majority of the quarter on the bench with four fouls.
“With having Shamaya playing as one of your best posts inside get in foul trouble early, you can’t go to her in the third,” said Glynn head coach Sharnesha Smith. “So with her sitting down, they made a couple of runs.
“I kept talking to them about being mentally tough. During that stretch, I think we kind of checked out a little bit, and just trying to get them to keep fighting. For who we had on the floor, and what we could do, I think they fought hard. We’ve just got to keep building on that.”
Aside from the third quarter, Smith was proud of her players’ effort.
Playing its fourth game in five nights, it would have been easy for the Terrors to throw in the towel when the Pirates scored the game’s first five points. Instead, the team clawed back to tie the contest at 11-11 through 10 minutes, and remained within striking distance the remainder of the half.
Glynn showed the same fight to open the fourth quarter. Trailing 38-23 after a two-point quarter, the Terrors tripled that total in the opening minutes of the final period.
“That’s the mentality I want to see,” Smith said. “Our kids fought hard. Were the only team in the region that’s played four games in five days, and they’re all region games — tough region games too.
“For my girls to continue fighting the last stretch right here, I think they played as well as they possibly could. It’s unfortunate with the season we’re in with COVID and everything, but again, we can’t make excuses. We’ve just got to go out there and play, and I thought they did that.”
But Brunswick’s superior depth eventually won out.
Nine different players made at least one basket for the Pirates, led by Glynn County Sports Hall of Fame Player of the Game Shakardia Cowart, who scored a team-high 10 points, five steals and four assists.
Shane’ Jackson also played a crucial role in the Pirates’ victory with her dominant presence inside on the defensive end and the boards. Jackson scored eight points, but it was when she and the rest of her teammates made a concerted effort to grab the first rebound that Brunswick took off.
“We’re big on the inside, they’re athletic on the inside as well, but I think we had a little edge on them, simply because Shane’ makes a big difference,” Mangram said. “Shane’ is big, and you have to respect her. We’ve just got to feed off of that.
“We still made mistakes where we tried to force it to her when we shouldn’t, but it worked. Then in the second half, we were able to get up and push the ball in transition.”