By By ZACH BROOKS
Sports Writer
The Escambia County High School Blue Devils started their weekend off on a bad note as they dropped a hard-fought game to Crestview High School, 52-45, Friday night in Crestview.
The Blue Devils came into the game trying to get back on the winning track after a loss to Northview High School on Monday night.
The loss to Northview was especially hard on the Blue Devils since it was a local matchup, and they wanted to even up the season series after losing to Northview earlier in the year.
The Blue Devils could never get back on track after falling behind Crestview, 14-9, after the first quarter, because they would trail Crestview for the rest of the game.
The second quarter was a little better for the Devils, as they outscored Crestview, 8-6 , for the quarter to trim Crestview's lead by two, 20-17, heading into the half-time.
Both teams stalemated in points in the third quarter at 15 a piece. The tie in points did not help the Devils any, as they were still down by three points, 35-32, heading into the defining final period.
Crestview ended any hopes the Blue Devils had of a comeback by outscoring the Blue Devils, 17-13, in the fourth quarter on their way to the 52-45 victory at home.
The victory by Crestview put the Blue Devils record to a very disappointing 12-11, on the season. The high hopes the Devils started out with at the beginning of the season are slowly evaporating with every loss now that the season is drawing to an end.
Despite the loss the Blue Devils shot a very respectable 72% from the free-throw line on 10/14 shooting. Crestview was also very good from the free-throw line however, as they shot a very impressive 75% from the free-throw line on 12/16 shooting.
The leading scorer on the night for the Blue Devils was Barrett Finney. Barrett scored 16 points on the night and also had helped lead the team in rebounds with six in the loss.
Barrett is the team's leading scorer on the year. He averages over 15 points and five rebounds for the Devils this year.
Damien Robinson followed closely behind Finney in points with 10 points on the night. Robinson also had a career -high six rebounds for the Devils on the night.
Katral Johnson also had five points for the Devils, and Kenny Clarke managed to pull down six rebounds also in the loss.
Nick Hammonds and James Herbert lead Crestview in points on the night with 22 and 13 points respectively.