By By Lori Dann
The Northview Chiefs have shown signs of improvement early this season, but they were no match for the Escambia County Blue Devils Tuesday night.
After a close first quarter, ECHS outscored the Chiefs 15-9 in the second period, 20-8 in the third and 11-8 in the fourth for a 56-34 victory in Bratt.
Once again, defense and rebounding were the difference for the Blue Devils. ECHS held an enormous rebounding edge on Northview, grabbing 56 boards to just 23 for the Chiefs. As a result, ECHS took 66 shots and Northview took just 47. The Blue Devils also forced 25 turnovers and committed just 13 themselves.
"If we can improve our shooting, we'll have a pretty good team," ECHS head coach Bob Zarahn said. "We're playing well everywhere else except on offense. Rebounding was a big key in this game. They were getting one shot where we were getting four or five."
The McNeil twins led the way for ECHS, with Terrell scoring 15 points and pulling down 12 rebounds and Terrence finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Also contributing were Barrett Finney with 12 points and 10 rebounds, Steven Moore with six points and eight rebounds, Ricky Craft and Anthony McCants with four points each, Michael Baldwin with two points and Damien Robinson with one.
Northview was paced by Kenya Richardson with 15 points, Jason Gillies with 10, Mandell Smith with four, Arlo Smith with three and Ray Hale with two.
ECHS improved to 6-1 with the win and was scheduled to face Citronelle Friday in its area opener. The Blue Devils will travel to Jackson Tuesday for another area contest.
The Escambia County Lady Blue Devils just keep on rolling.
ECHS posted its 10th consecutive win of the season Tuesday night, defeating Northview 45-27 in Bratt.
The Lady Blue Devils staked a large lead early and substituted freely in the second half.
Trenessa Rice and Fenetrias Lewis led a balanced scoring attack with 10 points each in the win. Pam Bynum added nine points, Latonya Knott and Aleshia Stallworth had four each and Marquita Jones and Janet Wilaon each had two.
Erin Cook scored nine points for Northview, which dropped to 0-6 with the loss. Kara Poulsen added four, while Hanna Chancery and Crystal Williams each had two.
ECHS will travel to Jackson Tuesday.
Eleven players scored as Escambia County's junior varsity squad rolled to a 44-16 win over Northview on Tuesday.
Kenneth Clark and Layton Knight were the top scorers with seven points each, while James Wilson and Theotis Jones added six piece. Mark Rodgers and Terrance Hazley each contributed four points, and Jeremy Forney, Katral Johnson, Earl Dailey, Chris Johnson and Jerame Conn each added two points.
For Northview, James Goodman had eight, James Darby had three, Kevin Lord and Vander Mitchell had two each and Cole Norton added one.
ECHS is now 8-1 and will travel to Jackson next Tuesday.