A strong start was enough to carry the Effingham County Rebels past their in-county rivals Friday night.

The Rebels posted a 78-56 win over the South Effingham Mustangs. The finish, though, imbued the Mustangs with confidence and left Rebels coach Donnie Arrington with a lesson to impart to his team.

The Rebels, ranked No. 6 among Class AAAA teams in the state, improved to 18-1 on the season and 6-0 in Region 2-AAAA (B). South Effingham fell to 4-17 overall and 0-7 in the subregion.

Jakeenan Gant, a 6-foot-7 sophomore center, had three dunks in the first quarter as Effingham raced out to a 17-2 lead. The Rebels reeled off 11 unanswered points in one stretch, fueled by Jordan Brown’s long 3-pointer They held the Mustangs without a field goal until Sean Lemon’s 3-pointer with 22 seconds remaining in the quarter.

"They’re the best defensive team we’ve seen," said Mustangs coach Patrick McClure. "They put a lot of pressure on the ball, and they don’t stop from beginning to end."

While the Rebels guards stuck to the Mustangs ballhandlers, the post combination accounted for seven blocked shots, including four from Gant.

Lemon’s driving basket to open the second quarter cut the lead to 19-9, but the Rebels, getting three baskets from T.J. Johnson in the spurt, went on an 11-0 run. Ryan Arrington’s 3 pushed Effingham’s advantage to 45-17.

"We really got after them defensively," Arrington said. "We got out on the break and did some things we wanted to do."

Effingham also went 12-of-17 from the free throw line in the first half. The Rebels also went to the stripe on three different occasions for three shots, courtesy of fouls on 3-point shot attempts.

Lemon opened the third quarter with a four-point play and buried another 3 as the Mustangs didn’t let the Rebels extend the lead. Lemon drained two more 3s in the fourth quarter, finishing with five 3s on the night en route to a game-high 24 points.

"In the second half, Sean hit some shots and we were able to handle the pressure," McClure said.

Mullins added 13 points for the Mustangs while Chase Clayton, Adam Jenkins and Joseph Bazemore had four points each. Tyler Hagan, Alex Norwood and Justin Pannell each had two points, and Jimmy Reid added one point.

The 56 points were the most the Rebels have surrendered this season. Effingham had been averaging allowing only 39 points per game.

South Effingham outscored the Rebels 39-33 over the final two quarters, which left McClure encouraged about his team.

"We came out very timid," he said. "At halftime, we had a talk and decided we were going to give it our all. Against such a good team, that’s a victory for us.

"Effingham is very good. I still like the way my guys played in the second half. I was proud of my JV guys playing hard against their varsity at the end of the game."

Gant finished with 20 points for the Rebels, who had four players in double figures. Johnson and Jay Wright each had 12 points, Brown accounted for 10 points. T.J. Rines had eight points, Ryan Arrington scored seven, Ryan Wilkins had five and De’Aundray Rhett scored four points.

Arrington was dismayed by the final two quarters. The veteran coach surmised that his team may have stepped off the gas, given the sizable halftime lead, and the Mustangs seized the opportunity.

"We’ve got to finish better," he said. "It’s tough sometimes to play when you’ve got a lead. But you have to focus all the time. I’m disappointed we gave up 56 points. We didn’t rebound as well. We just lost our focus.

"We talked about getting off to a good start. Sometimes it’s human nature to let your guard down a little bit. The problem is with folks who can score, they can make a bunch of them."