By By Lindsey Sherrill
Staff Writer
All four Escambia Academy teams took on Monroe Academy Tuesday night at home. The Cougars came away with three wins for the night in a series that – as is always the case when these two rivals play – hotly contested.
The Escambia junior varsity Lady Cougars began the night by defeating the Lady Volunteers 26-10. EA quickly took the lead in the game as they ended the first quarter ahead of Monroe, 16-0. Neither team could get much going in the next two quarters as EA scored only three points in the second and zero in the third, and Monroe scored two in the second quarter and four in the third. In the final quarter Monroe was able to put up more points, yet it was not enough to top the Lady Cougars as they scored seven more points to end the game at a 26-10 victory for EA.
Leading the scoring was Alison Thomas with 10 points. Jaime Drew followed with five points, Ellen Corman had four, Eva Currie, Courtney Smith, and Holly Harrison each had two points, and Katie Smith scored one point. K. Smith led the team in rebounds with five. Thomas, C. Smith, Harrison, Morgan Dorriety, and Marianna Woods each had three rebounds. LeighAnn Everette had two and Drew and Clare Jones had one rebound each.
The Escambia junior varsity boys defeated Monroe in a game that was back and forth until the final seconds. Despite the height advantage of the Volunteer team, the Cougars still came away with the 42-36 victory.
Andrew Lambeth led the Cougar scoring with 17 points, the team high for the season. Cody Norton followed with eight points. Bruce Smith had six points, Joseph Drew scored five, and Matt Ash and Jared Vanlandingham each scored one point.
The Lady Cougars faced Monroe in a very close game that was decided in the final minute as the Lady Vols went ahead 42-38 to win the game.
Leading the scoring for Escambia was Jessica Gibbs with 14 points. Lori Bonds scored 10 points, followed by Kaylie Castleberry with four, Meagan Jackson and Rayleen Miller with three each, and Anna Parish and Mandi Norton with two points. Gibbs also led the team in rebounds with 10. Castleberry had seven, Jackson had six, Bonds had five, Norton and Jaime Drew each had three, and Parish and Miller each had two rebounds.
The EA boys also faced Monroe in a tough game in which they came away with a 55-51 victory. The Cougars trailed Monroe until the fourth quarter as they were down 18-12 after the first, 29-22 after the second, and 45-38 after the third.
Cole Norton led the team in scoring with 18 points, his second highest score of the year (he had 22 points on Dec. 20 against Sparta). He was followed by Chris Moore with eight points. David Daniel scored seven, Jace Beasley scored six, Robert Hardy scored five, Cody White and Zack Smith scored four, and Steven Shirley scored three points. Leading the team in rebounds were Beasley and Hardy with seven each. Smith had six, Norton had five, White and Shirley had two, and Daniel and Moore each had one rebound.
On Thursday, the Alabama Sports Writers Association released its current rankings for AISA basketball. The Lady Cougars, who are currently at 11-3 on the season, are ranked second in the AISA behind Warrior Academy. The Cougars, who are also at 11-3 on the season, are ranked at No. 4.