SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — Things looked bleak for the Social Circle Redskins during the first quarter of Friday night’s contest against Banks County, but a strong resurgence helped lead the Redskins to a 64-56 overtime win and sole possession of second place in Region 8-AA.
Bryan Oglesby lead the way for The Circle with 20 points. KJ Reid finished with 14 while Ennis Woolfolk dropped 12 points in the game.
Social Circle trailed 15-3 after a lackluster performance in the first quarter. Redskins’ head coach Brian Anderson said their game plan coming into the contest was to limit Leopards’ star Carl Cleveland. Cleveland finished with 29 points, but after a 9-point first quarter from Cleveland, Anderson resorted to plan B: “speed them up.”
Plan B totally turned the tide of the game for The Circle. The Redskins, lead by Oglesby’s nine second quarter points, slowly climbed back into the game. A second quarter 19-8 run turned what seemed to be a blow out into a ball game. Heading into the break, the Redskins only trailed by one at 23-22.
The third quarter was the first evenly played quarter of the game. In a back and forth affair, that ended with a 5-2 Social Circle run, Banks lead 36-32 heading into what was shaping up to be a classic fourth quarter.
The quarter lived up to the hype. Late in the frame, Bryan Oglesby hit a floater in the lane for the Redskins first lead of the game, putting them up 41-40. As the two teams fought their way to the end of regulation, Oglesby’s jumper at the buzzer bounced awry off the rim, sending the game into overtime locked at 45 all.
In overtime the Skins took over. With a 19-11 run in overtime, Social Circle handled the Leopards and notched their 14th overall, and fifth region win of the year. With the win, the Redskins sit solidly in second place in the Region 8-AA standings, one step closer to their goal of making the state tournament — a goal the school has not achieved in 11 years.
“It’s important for the guys and the school,” Anderson said of their current region standings. “But we’re not done yet.”
The Redskins will look to keep the momentum going and further cement next Tuesday and Friday as they face Monticello (3-15, 2-5) and Putnam County (4-14, 2-5) respectively.