By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
It was a game of runs. Unfortunately for the W.S. Neal Lady Blue Eagles, Clarke County had all the runs in a 65-25 victory Friday in East Brewton.
The game was the season opener for both teams.
The Lady Bulldogs began the game on a 17-0 run, the second quarter on a 17-4 run, the third quarter on an 11-0 run and the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run.
Clarke County set the tone for the game in the first couple of minutes despite the fact its lead was just 2-0 at that time. During that span the Lady Bulldogs began their domination of the boards with 10 offensive rebounds. Clarke County went on to outrebound the Lady Blue Eagles 45-17 for the game, a figure that included 30 second chance shots.
The staggering rebounding advantage gave the Lady Bulldogs a 74-40 edge in field goal attempts.
Turnovers also played a key part of the game, as W.S. Neal committed 12 of its 25 giveaways in the first quarter.
As Clarke County built its 17-0 lead to start the game, it took the Lady Blue Eagles seven minutes to get on the scoreboard before a three-pointer by Olivia Thompson broke the ice.
That shot did little to stop the bleeding. Clarke County's lead reached a 20-point margin of 23-3 less than a minute into the second quarter after a bucket by Antwinique Harris.
It was Lady Bulldogs' center Tiffany Johnson that inflicted most of the damage on W.S. Neal. Johnson had 11 of her game high 29 points in the first half, as Clarke County built a 36-9 lead by the midway point.
It reached 47-9 halfway into the third quarter before another three-pointer by Thompson broke that Clarke County run.
Johnson had a string of eight straight points in the fourth quarter, as Clarke County's lead reached a game high margin of 40 points at 59-19.
Both Thompson and Carolyn Marshall led W.S. Neal with 10 points. Marshall had seven of her points in the second half.
The Lady Eagles host Northview (Fla.) Monday.
At W.S. Neal
Clarke County 19 17 13 16 – 65
W.S. Neal 3 6 10 6 – 25
CLARKE COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Johnson 12-0-5-29; Denson 1-2-0-8; Harris 3-0-1-7; Thomas 3-0-1-7; Martin 2-0-1-5; Celste 1-1-0-5; Dennis 1-0-0-2; Curtis 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 24-3-8-65)
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Marshall 2-1-3-10; Thompson 1-2-2-10; Bradley 0-1-0-3; Matthews 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 4-4-5-25)