By By Matthew Nascone
The Escambia County Lady Blue Devils could not build on a 21-16 halftime advantage over rival T.R. Miller in the first game of the Escambia County Tournament Thursday in East Brewton.
The Lady Devils (4-6) lost 44-30 and were outscored 28-9 in the second half of the game.
ECHS jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first couple minutes of the game and led 9-6 after the first quarter. The Lady Devils kept the pressure on T.R. Miller, leading 21-16 at halftime, but ECHS could not break the Miller press in the second half.
Miller came out of the gates on fire in the second half and grabbed their first lead of the night at 26-23. They led 30-28 and outscored the Lady Devils 14-2 in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Senior Latesha Lee and junior Courtney English led the way with 8 points apiece. Senior T.T. Jennings added 6 points and senior Megan Hartley, senior Anushk'a Banks and sophomore Canausha Crenshaw each contributed 2 points.
The Lady Devils faced W.S. Neal Friday night and Flomaton Saturday in the other two games of the tournament. The results will be in an upcoming Advance.
Vigor 73 Lady Devils 34
The Lady Devils hosted Vigor Dec. 11, but could not pull out a win, losing 73-34.
Vigor outscored ECHS in every quarter, including an 11-2 fourth quarter.
"I take the blame for that loss because we were not mentally prepared," ECHS head coach Ray Greer said. "We were not ready for that game and that is all my fault. I need to sit down and be more specific with certain rules in the future."
English led the scoring for ECHS with 17 points. Crenshaw added 9 points. Junior Tiarra Ankum had 4 points and Banks and sophomore Jasmine Tolbert added 2 points apiece.
Lady Devils 61 Baldwin County 58
The Lady Devils swept the season series with the Baldwin County Lady Tigers Dec. 8 in Atmore with a 61-58 victory.
ECHS grabbed a 15-9 first quarter lead and the Lady Tigers slowly chipped away at it, but could not get enough to win the game.
English had 22 points in the game. Crenshaw added 11 points. Lee contributed 7 points. Hartley and senior Taneika Crimbley added 4 points apiece. Sophomore Jodeci Craft added 3 points and Jennings and Ankum each had 2 points.
Lady Devils 39 Alma Bryant 37
The Lady Devils returned home from Alma Bryant Dec. 4 with a close 39-37 victory. The Lady Devils trailed 22-20 at halftime, but clawed back for the 39-37 score with a 25-21 second half.
English again led the scoring with 15 points. Lee added 8 points. Ankum added 5 points. Hartley had 3 points and Craft, Banks, Crenshaw and Jennings each had 2 points.
Clarke County 43 Lady Devils 42
The close game edge went against the Lady Devils in their Dec. 1 meeting with Clarke County on the road, as they lost 43-42. ECHS held a 22-21 lead at halftime and the teams tied 13-13 in the third quarter, but Clarke County outscored ECHS 9-7 in the final period for the win.
English had 20 points. Lee added 11 points. Hartley had 5 points. Jennings added 4 points and Banks had 2 points.
Next up for the Lady Devils is the Greenville Tournament Dec. 20-22.