In their previous two meetings, the W.S. Neal varsity boys basketball held a 2-0 record over the T.R. Miller Tigers. W.S. Neal defeated T.R. Miller 46-40 in their first meeting in Brewton and followed with a 47-43 win over the Tigers in the Escambia County Tournament.
That 2-0 record over the Tigers may have played a part in the Tigers 57-47 win over the Eagles Tuesday night in East Brewton. The Tigers ended a six-game losing streak to improve to 2-8 overall and picked up their first area win to improve to 1-2.
W.S. Neal saw their two-game winning streak end as they fell to 3-4 overall and to 1-1 in area play.
Tiger head coach Juan Johnson said winning Tuesday night after coming off two defeats to the Eagles was big for his team.
“They have beat us twice this year so for us to come back and stand up and man up the third time, that is a testament for our kids,” Johnson said. “Their kids fought hard. No. 3 (Tyshawn Davis) and No. 10 (D.J. Hodges) for them, I don’t know their names, but they have shot the ball well against us in all three games. This kind of put us back in position where we are back in the area hunt. You could not ask for more than that. We are a young basketball team. We are still making mistakes, but we will grow from this game.”
One reason the Tigers were able to get the win was because of the play of David Barragan. Barragan poured in 26 points in the win for the Tigers. Barragan was also joined in double figures by Trae Walker’s 15 points and Caleb Hubbard’s 12 points.
“He (Barragan) forced turnovers tonight,” Johnson said. “I put the best five out there and I thought we had a solid game defensively. They came through. I thought we did a better job defensively on them than we had done in our previous games with them.”
While the earlier losses to the Eagles may have propelled the Tigers to the win, Eagle head coach Kason Whitten said he thought it made his team come out “flat” against T.R. Miller Tuesday.
“We just came out flat. We came out flat and did not want it as bad,” Whitten said. “We sat back and I felt that we had kind of enjoyed our riches from before (beating T.R. Miller twice in their previous games). It was a playoff atmosphere and T.R. Miller brought it to us. We just didn’t respond. We responded the first two times we played them, but we didn’t respond this time. This ties us up 1-1 in the area standings, which is an uncomfortable place to be. We are now at .500, but I think we are going to get better. Now we have some adversity to learn from early. Down the stretch, this type of stuff will strengthen us for our playoff run.”
W.S. Neal struck first in the game between the two rivals to take an early 2-0, but from there the Tigers went on a 13-0 run to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 13-2 lead with 2:09 left in the first quarter. T.R. Miller would go on and lead the Eagles 14-3 after one quarter of play.
The T.R. Millers went on to lead by as many as 13 points in the second quarter, but the Eagles used a 6-0 run late in the quarter to cut the lead to four points, 23-19, with 1:34 left in the half. The Eagles would outscore the Tigers 16-11 in the quarter, but trailed 25-19 at the half.
In the third quarter, T.R. Miller once again built a double-digit lead to lead by as many as 11 points. But just like in the second quarter, the Eagles used a run of their own to cut the lead to two points, 35-33, with 2:25 left in the third quarter.
With their lead cut to two points, the Tigers increased their lead to 43-35 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, T.R. Miller led by as many as 12 until the Eagles cut the lead to six points with 1:47 left in the game. The Tigers would edge out W.S. Neal 14-12 to get the win by 10.
While the Tigers had three players score in double figures, the Eagles did as well. Hodges led the Eagles with 18 points while Montrel Banks and Josiah Nettles both had 10 points each in the loss.
The Tigers shot 9-for-17 from the free throw line in the win while W.S. Neal was 4-for-14.
In other action Tuesday night in East Brewton, the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers kept the W.S. Neal Lady Eagles scoreless with a 23-10 win. T.R. Miller improved to 3-10 overall and to 2-1 in area play while W.S. Neal fell to 0-7 overall and to 0-2 in area play.
The W.S. Neal B-team Eagles picked up their second straight win of the season as they took down the Tigers 31-30 in a thriller. W.S. Neal improved to 2-2 while the Tigers dropped their second straight game to fall to 2-4 this season.
T.R. Miller is scheduled to travel to Bayside Academy Friday while W.S. Neal is scheduled to host Cottage Hill. Both games are set for 4:30 p.m. and will be area games.
T.R. Miller will be at home on Monday against Monroe County at 4:30 p.m. in a non-area game while W.S. Neal will host Bayside Academy Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in an area game.

TRM Lady Tigers 23, WSN Lady Eagles 10
In a low-scoring affair Tuesday night in East Brewton, the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers cruised to a 13-point win over the Lady Eagles, 23-10.
The W.S. Neal Lady Eagles offense sputtered all night as they were only held to 10 points the whole game. W.S. Neal had two points in the first half after being held scoreless in the second quarter. T.R. Miller led W.S. Neal 8-2 after one quarter of play and 10-2 at the half after only two total points were scored in the second quarter.
The Lady Tigers ran their lead to 16-5 heading into the fourth quarter after they doubled up the Lady Eagles 6-3 in the third quarter.
In the fourth, T.R. Miller ended the game on a 7-5 run to get the win by 13.
O’Nesha Hall led the Lady Tigers with eight points in the win and Lateysia Montgomery and Shae Nicholson both had five points each. Mekia Williams chipped in four points while Emonea Curry finished with one point.
For the Lady Eagles, Daisha Flowers led with five points and Courtney Emmons and Khadijah Barton both had two points each. Tiana Smith finished with one point in the loss for the Lady Eagles.
The Lady Tigers shot 4-for-8 from the free throw line in the loss while W.S. Neal was 2-for-6.

WSN B-team 31, TRM B-team 30
Down 30-28 with less than a minute to play in the game, W.S. Neal Eagle B-team player Treylon Watson nailed a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left to lift the Eagles to a one-point win over the Tigers, 31-30.
The Tigers had their chance late but a rebound after failed shot with in the final seconds went to the Eagles of East Brewton and W.S. Neal grabbed their second straight win.
T.R. Miller and W.S. Neal were tied at 27-all with 1:24 left to play. Carlos Thomas put the Tigers on top 30-27 after a made 3-pointer with 1:13 left to play in the game.
The Eagles cut the lead to 30-28 with a free throw and took possession of the ball again with 1:00 left after a jump ball.
Down two, the Eagles called a time out with 36 seconds left and Watson would seal the win with a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left in the game.
T.R. Miller led W.S. Neal 8-5 after one quarter, but the Eagles took an 18-14 lead at the half following a 13-6 advantage in the second quarter. The Tigers retook the lead heading into the fourth quarter after they held a 9-3 advantage in the third quarter to lead 23-21 heading into the fourth.
In the fourth, W.S. Neal outscored the Tigers 10-7 to get the one-point win.
Watson led W.S. Neal with 15 points and Antwan Jones followed with six points. Troy Lewis added five points in the win while Quantae Barksdale and Keaton Yuhasz both had two points each. Lane Chavers added one in the loss.
For the Tigers, Markail Mitchell led with 11 points while Thomas finished with eight. Alex Daugherty finished with five points and Tamerick Jenkins added two points along with Trin Miller and Austin Holmes.