Liberty County earned its first Region 2A-AAAA win on Friday night in Jesup, beating Wayne County 65-59.

Melvin King led the Panthers with 19 points as Liberty bounced back from a five-point loss to Brunswick on Tuesday.

"We played an all-around better game," LCHS head coach Willie Graham said after the game. "It was our best complete game from start to finish this year. Both sides of the region seem like they’re going to be pretty evenly matched. If you can steal one or two wins on the road and hold the home court you should be right up there at the top."

The Panthers needed Friday’s win. Before beating the Yellow Jackets they were 0-2 in the region after losing 48-46 at Richmond Hill on Jan. 7 and then falling 56-51at home Tuesday to Brunswick.

Now Graham says Liberty needs to focus on Ware County. The Panthers will face the 0-3 Gators in Waycross on Tuesday.

But Graham doesn’t want to take the team for granted.

"We scouted them and they are a quick team with small guards and one standout player in Quintin Edwards, a southpaw," the coach said.

Graham compared the Gators’ style of play to that of Richmond Hill.

"But if we play aggressive like we did last night from the start of the game, we’ll be fine," Graham.

Graham was busy Saturday morning as the Liberty High School gym was the site of the Doc Williams Invitational featuring local ninth grade teams.

In that tournament the Liberty boys were set to open against McIntosh Academy. Teams from Statesboro and Brunswick were also scheduled to play.

Results were unavailable at deadline.