By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics The Brunswick High basketball teams will play at home Saturday night. The game against Woodville-Tompkins will actually be the season opener for the Brunswick High boys while the Lady Pirates will be playing the same school in their second game of the new season. The BHS girls opened their 2022-23 campaign last Saturday against Rockdale County, the same team that knocked them out of the Class AAAAAA state tournament last season in the Elite Eight. Here’s a look at both Brunswick High teams. BHS Girls The Lady Pirates are still looking to have another big season, despite Saturday’s lopsided loss to Rockdale which rocked Brunswick 96-56 in a matchup of teams ranked inside the top-10 in the state preseason polls. Last year, Rockdale defeated the Lady Pirates 64-56 in their state quarterfinals matchup played here in Brunswick. BHS entered Saturday’s contest played in Covington ranked fifth in the state while Rockdale was fourth to start the season. Brunswick coach Maria Mangram said the Lady Pirates lost because of “nervous mistakes,” particularly citing the 25 turnovers committed by her team in the loss. “It was horrible, terrible,” Mangram said. The Lady Pirates finished last season 27-2 overall while going 12-1 in Region 2-AAAAAA and claiming the region championship. BHS blew out Bradwell Institute in the region tournament title game before bombing Lakeside Atlanta in the first round of the state tournament and then knocking off perennial power Buford in the Sweet 16. BHS returns several players from last year’s team including Region Player of the Year Shamya Flanders and first-team all-region selection Shane’ Jackson. Flanders, a 5-foot-11 senior forward, led Brunswick in scoring last year with 13.2 points per game while also pulling down 6.8 rebounds. Jackson, a senior center, averaged 11.2 points, nine rebounds and 2.3 blocks a game last season. Jackson was slowed this summer by an injured ankle, and while playing volleyball for BHS this fall, she injured her other ankle and is still not 100 percent. This season, Brunswick has another tall post player to add on the inside in freshman Reagan Hicks. Her presence might allow the Lady Pirates to play Flanders in the three-spot on offense which would allow her to handle the ball more outside the paint and make Flanders tough to defend for smaller players. “Reagan has a lot of potential and plays well around the basket,” Mangram noted. In the backcourt, junior Jermiyah Ramsey returns at point guard for the Lady Pirates. She was voted to the all-region second-team last season as a sophomore and played especially well late in the season. Ramsey averaged 7.5 points and knocked down 27 three-point shots a year ago. Also returning in the guard slots for BHS are junior Shania Jones who made second-team all-region last season and played big down the stretch along with senior guard Dariana Johnson who was honorable-metion all-region. Another returnee for BHS is senior guard-forward Jamya West who also was honorable-mention all-region a year ago. Brunswick will be the favorite for the region title again in a new-look region that still includes Glynn Academy, South Effingham and Effingham along with newcomers Evans, Lakeside-Evans and Grovetown from the Augusta area. Bradwell Institute, Statesboro and Richmond Hill are now in different classifications after playing in the region last season. “Winning the region is a big deal, and it’s on our goals list, but we have to set our sights beyond that,” Mangram noted. “We have to see the bigger picture. To win big games, we have to make free throws, limit turnovers. If you don’t do those things, you’ll get beat by the teams that are as good or better than you down the line. It’ll come back to bite you.” The Lady Pirates will be carried by Flanders and Jackson who give the team a strong inside tandem that is hard to match on both ends of the court, but consistently strong play on the perimeter will be key for the team’s overall success, Mangram noted. BHS Boys The Pirates finished with a winning record a season ago, but did not make the state tournament for the first time in several seasons. Brunswick will look to improve on its 14-11 record from a year ago, while hopefully playing its way into the top four in the region and returning to state tournament under longtime coach Chris Turner. “We’ve got a lot of good young players and we need them to really grow up and develop to go with the good seniors we have,” Turner said. One of those good seniors is guard Camarion Johnson, a four-year starter for the Pirates who is closing in on scoring 1,000 points for his career at the school. The 6-foot-3, 185-pounder averaged more than 17 points a game last year for the Pirates and was among the top scorers in the region. “He’s a good scorer when he’s on and takes good shots,” Turner said. “He’s gotten a lot stronger and quicker.” Johnson and fellow senior Riyon Rankin are the only two returning starters for the Pirates. Rankin, who is 6-3 and 165 pounds, won the high-jump at the Class AAAAAA state meet this past spring and is one of the top high-jumpers in the nation. Rankin scored 12 points for BHS in a scrimmage game against Beach two Saturdays ago and led BHS in three-point shooting percentage last season. “He can score, rebound and play defense,” Turner said. “He’s a good leader and loves basketball.” Brunswick’s starting point guard figures to be sophomore C.J. Battle who saw some time with the varsity last season. “He’s a good shooter and got better over the summer,” Turner said. “He’s getting stronger and quicker and is working hard to learn to play the point.” Junior forward Kevin Thomas is another returning player for the Pirates. He just recently joined the team for practice after playing football at BHS, but should see lots of playing time as he gets into basketball form. “He plays hard, aggravates you on defense,” Turner noted. The Pirates also are excited about the potential of freshman Heze Kent who also just wrapped up football. Kent is 6-6 and 245 pounds and obviously is a big body in the paint who can be a major presence for the Pirates as he matures at the varsity level. “He can pass, catch and run and shoots pretty well for a big guy,” Turner said. “He’s gotta get in basketball shape, though.” Other frontcourt players for the Pirates include junior center Christian Davis and senior forward Donovan Ward. Other backcourts players are sophomore guards Caleb Butler and Nazir Poole. Also expected to see playing time for BHS are junior guard-forwards Elijah Wellman and Chancellor Rozier, fellow junior Dinari Capers and seniors Gerald Quick and James Ramsey. “One thing we have to improve on is our defense,” Turner said. “We’re gonna have young guys guarding older players. And guys like Camarion and Riyon, they’re gonna have to have seven and eight rebounds a game or we’re not gonna win. “The main thing for us is just to keep improving, keep improving everyday. We have a lot of good athletes, but they have to learn how to play basketball.” Turner also noted the strength of the new region this season, pointing out that Grovetown is the clear-cut favorite as the defending state champion with another talent-rich team. “They’re loaded,” he said of the Warriors. “They’re ranked in the top 30 in the nation, and they’re one of the top teams in our state.”