Make it three in a row for the Escambia County Blue Devils as they have won their third consecutive Escambia County championship after defeating the T.R. Miller Tigers 64-33 in the deciding game at T.R. Miller Monday night.

The Blue Devils (10-6, 1-0) picked up the win thanks to the efforts of Tournament MVP Andrew Rodgers and All-Tournament Team member Fred Knight who each recorded 14 points in the championship game.

Blue Devils head coach Anthony Hayes said he was proud of how well his team played during the tournament.

“I’m really proud of how our guys performed over the past three days,” he said. “Andrew really stepped up and played well on both ends of the court. We hope this carries over once 2011 and area play begin.”

Atmore made the most of the deciding game of the tournament as they handled the Tigers from the opening tip until the final buzzer.

The Blue Devils grabbed ahold of the momentum quickly in the first quarter as they jumped out to a 19-5 lead.

Atmore continued to bury Miller in the second quarter as they scored 14 more points before halftime and only allowed the Tigers to score 10. At the break, ECHS led 31-15.

Following halftime, the Blue Devils kept their foot on the gas pedal and played ferociously on both ends of the court.

In the third quarter, ECHS continued to play a fast-paced game at a high level and outscored the Tigers 18-9 to pull ahead 49-24 heading into the final quarter.

With the county championship only eight minutes away, the Blue Devils made their performance look even more impressive as they made one last push scoring 15 points and allowing the tournament-hosting Tigers to only score nine as ECHS clinched the county tournament 64-33.

Aside from the strong performance of their All-Tournament players, Blue Devils that scored in the game included C.J. Pierce and Demarcus McMillian with six points each, Walter Franklin with five points, Rico Stallworth with three points and Marshall Rolin and Dalvin Craft with two apiece.

ECHS 52

Flomaton 33

Escambia County continued their run to a county championship on the second day of the Escambia County tournament at T.R. MIller High School in Brewton.

The Blue Devils (9-6, 1-0) outhustled and outplayed the Flomaton Hurricanes in their second game winning 52-33.

Atmore jumped on top of the Hurricanes early in the game as they outscored Flomaton 21-9 in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, both teams hit an offensive slump witih the Hurricanes winning the quarter 7-5, but the Blue Devils held onto a 26-16 lead at the half.

Folllowing halftime, the Blue Devils started hitting their shots again and began pulling away from Flomaton.

In the third quarter, Atmore extended their leadby outscoring the Hurricanes 12-7.

In the final quarter, the Blue Devils were able to cruise to a win as they had already built a comfortable lead over the Hurricanes and made it larger by outscoring Flomaton 14-10 to win 52-33.

Andrew Rodgers led the Blue Devils with a double-double as he recorded 12 points and 12 rebounds. He also blocked seven shots.

Demarcus McMillian added 10 points for ECHS to go along with five rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Cedric Pierce, Tony McAroy and Tacorian Brown all scored six points in the win.

ECHS 82

W.S. Neal 25

On the opening day of the Escambia County tournament, Andrew Rodgers led the Escambia County Blue Devils to an 82-25 win over the W.S. Neal Blue Eagles.

Rodgers finished the contest with a double-double as he recorded 20 points and 14 rebounds, while blocking seven shots and snagging five steals.

The Blue Devils were never challenged by the Blue Eagles as they outscored them 24-3 in the first quarter and 31-13 in the second period to lead 55-16 at halftime.

Following the break, Atmore kept punishing Neal as they outscored them 19-6 in the third quarter and 11-3 in the final quarter to pull out the monster victory.

Supporting Rodgers’ performance was Marshall Rolin who scored 13 points in the win to go along with six steals, four rebounds and two assists.

Daejon Burrous added 11 points with one rebound and one steal, while C.J. Pierce scored nine points and recorded four steals and one rebound.

Walt Franklin and Tony McAroy each had seven points for ECHS.