Warriors turn back Rebels 65-58

For the second straight year, Region 3-AAAAA (A) powers Jenkins and Effingham County had a mid-December matchup. This time Jenkins beat the Rebels 65-58.

A year ago Jenkins was a team in transition under new coach Bakari Bryant, and it showed as the Rebels cruised to an easy win to jump start a 27-5 season. Despite the loss, the Warriors rebounded to finish 22-8 including a win in the rematch.

On Tuesday night, the shoe was on the other foot as Effingham coach Donnie Arrington returns only of his top seven players from last year while the Warriors are now comfortable in Bryant's system.

"They do well what we don't do well - press," Arrington said before the game. "If we handle the pressure tonight, win or lose, we'll be OK. We've got one (Jakeenan Gant) of our first seven back. He's a great one, but still he's one of seven."

The Rebels handled the Jenkins pressure up to a point.

Effingham County was down eight points, 37-29, with 3:20 left in the first half, but finished on an 8-0 run, and was up by four points with just under four minutes left in the third quarter before wilting down the stretch.

When the smoke had cleared at the Jenkins gym, the Warriors owned the win to run their record to 3-0, 2-0 in the region, while Effingham County dropped to 4-3, 1-1 in region play.

And, the Warriors did it with hard-nosed defense as they held Gant to only five points, 22 below his average. The Missouri signee had his lone field goal in the second quarter, and while he blocked several shots, he had a miserable shooting night.

"We strive off our defense," Bryant said. "Defense wins championships, and we're looking to win championships. You do that with defense, and Jahmel Thomas did a wonderful job on him (Gant)."

Thomas scored only two points on the night, but he forced Gant into one of the worst nights of his career.

"He's a Division I signee, and he's working on his perimeter game," Bryant said. "We played him for the drive and made him go to his left. I told Jahmel to box him out first, and then attack the rim.

"This is a great win for us against a good team and a region game. They'll get better, but we can't look too far ahead. We have to stay hungry."

The Rebels jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead, but the Warriors settled down and got the lead for the first time at 12-10 on a dunk by Jamelle Lanier, who had a game high 15 points on the night.

Jenkins pushed the lead to 37-28 before the Rebel rally that carried into the opening minutes of the second half.

Effingham managed to tie it at 41-41 on Ontario Williams' follow up of a Gant miss, the first of six straight points for the Rebels.

However, Arrington's team could not sustain the momentum against the Warriors, who went on a 10-0 run to take control of the game. When Quentin Robbins scored on a fast break layup off a long pass from Darryll Johnson it was 51-45 with 1:30 on the clock.

Williams broke the drought for the Rebels, but Jenkins scored the final five points of the quarter for a 56-47 bulge. Jenkins enjoyed its biggest lead at 60-49 with five and a half minutes to play.

With Gant misfiring on all cylinders the Rebels simply could not muster up any firepower to make a run at the Warriors.

EFFINGHAM COUNTY (58)

Reid Tanner 13, Owens 6, Wilkerson 9, Morris 6, Gant 5, Green 5, King 2, Ontonio Williams 12.

JENKINS (65)

Brenden Carter 13, Malik Benlevi 17, Jamelle Lanier 15, Woodson 2, Robbins 3, E. Johnson 4, Thomas 2, D. Johnson 4, Polite 5.

Haltitime: Jenkins 37-36. 3-pointers: Effingham-Tanner Reid 3, Deshaun Wilkerson 1, Mondre Green 1, Ontonion Williams 1. Jenkins-Brenden Carter 2, Jamelle Lanier 3. Records: Jenkins 3-0, 2-0 Region 3A-AAAAA; Effingham 4-3, 1-1 Region 3A-AAAAA