Glynn County Sports Hall of Fame Player of the Game Quay Dickens scored nine of his team-high 16 points in the second quarter to help the Terrors dig out of an 11-point deficit, but it was D’Marion Hayes who recorded the game-winning points on a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining.
With the score tied 49-49, Glynn (12-6, 5-4 Region 2-6A) moved the ball around the perimeter until the final seconds when Hayes pulled up for a 3-pointer and was fouled by a Brunswick player.
The senior guard knocked down the first two free throws, but the Pirates rebounded the missed third and called a timeout with 1.7 on the clock. However, Brunswick (13-5, 4-5) was whistled for a five-second violation as it attempted to inbound the ball in the backcourt, effectively ending the hard-fought battle.
The Terrors went down 12-1 early, but after rallying to take their first lead of the contest on back-to-back 3s by brothers Tray and Quay Dickens midway through the second quarter, neither team led by more than five points over the final 24 minutes of game time.
“I’m proud of them for just not getting down on themselves and hanging their heads in such a game like this,” said Glynn head coach Terrance Haywood. “They fought back and stayed with it. We were able to cut it to one or two at the half, and then it was a good ball game from then on out.”
A pair of six-point quarters by Kam Towns and Camarion Johnson against Glynn Academy’s zone carried Brunswick to an early lead before the Terrors readjusted their defense.
Having fallen against the Pirates in December, the Terrors were initially concerned about their ability to matchup athletically in man-to-man. But with the zone failing early, Glynn decided to switch back to man defense and it paid immediate dividends, limiting Brunswick to eight points in the second quarter.
“We came out in a zone, and Brunswick High can shoot the ball very well, and they hit two or three 3s in that first quarter that kind of threw us off a little bit,” Haywood said. “We were down, so I was like, ‘Forget it. Let’s man up and let’s just see what we can do.’ Then we were able to kind of settle down and fight back into the game.”
Haywood’s concerns were proven warranted at times though.
When the Pirates were in a dry spell offensively, their most effective play was often to give the ball to Towns on the perimeter. The 6-foot-2 senior consistently flashed the ability to beat his defender off the dribble and elevate high over traffic to score near the rim.
Towns finished with a game-high 24 points, 12 rebounds and two assists, but he was the only Pirate to score more than six points.
The Terrors, on the other hand got 10 points from Tyson Rooks, and eight points apiece from Hayes and T.J. Lewis in addition to Quay Dickens’ performance.
Scoring the ball has been a challenge at times for Glynn Academy this season since losing Max Hrdlicka, who led the team in scoring each of the past two years with more than 17 points per game. In Hrdlicka’s absence, Quay Dickens has taken on more of the scoring burden with a quick trigger from long distance.
Quay Dickens knocked down three of his four 3-pointers in the second quarter to spark the Terrors’ comeback.
“Since Max has been out, Quay Dickens has stepped up for us as our leading scorer right now,” Haywood said. “He hit a couple of 3s during that stretch to get us some momentum going, and once they hit a couple of shots, and they picked it up on the defensive end, it was a knock down, drag out ballgame, which is what I expect anytime we play Brunswick High.”