By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
They dodged one potential knockout blow, but the W.S. Neal Lady Blue Eagles did not dodge the second.
W.S. Neal limped out of its own Escambia County Tournament winless Saturday when it fell to the Escambia County Lady Blue Devils 54-32.
The Lady Blue Eagles, who fell to 1-4 on the season, found themselves having to play catch-up the entire game after they fell behind 21-5 in the first quarter.
Escambia County built its early cushion on both ends of the floor. W.S. Neal hit just two of 12 field goal attempts against the Lady Blue Devils' defense in the opening frame. Meanwhile on the offensive side Escambia County used a big edge on the boards to take 20 shots in the first quarter.
Ten of those attempts were successful, which included six buckets by Tennika Lett. It was just the start of a huge night for Lett, who matched W.S. Neal's total team output with 32 points.
Despite the slow start, the Lady Eagles worked their way back in the second quarter. W.S. Neal had most of that effort from the free throw line.
Four charity tosses by Rhonda Bradley and one each by Tierra Andrews and Carolyn Marshall plus a hoop by Timaya Nolan brought W.S. Neal within 22-12 two minutes into the frame.
Three more hoops by Lett helped push Escambia County's lead back to 16 points at 29-13, but W.S. Neal ended the first half with another charge.
A three-pointer by Bradley and two buckets by Andrews left Escambia County's advantage at 29-20 headed into half-time.
The lead did not stay in single digits for long once the third quarter started. Led by five buckets and 10 points by Lett, Escambia County began the second half on a 14-0 run that quickly swelled the Lady Blue Devils lead to a comfortable margin of 43-20.
That was just part of W.S. Neal's third quarter downfall. Three more baskets by Lett completed a 22-2 run that gave Escambia County a 51-22 lead with 30 seconds left in the quarter.
Andrews led the Lady Blue Eagles with eight points, while Nolan had six. Both Andrews and Marshall were named to the all-tournament team.
At W.S. Neal
Escambia Co. 21 8 22 3 – 54
W.S. Neal 5 15 4 8 – 32
ESCAMBIA COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Lett 16-0-0-32; Sanders 2-0-0-4; Burt 1-0-2-4; Crenshaw 2-0-0-4; Taylor 1-0-2-4; C. Lee 1-0-0-2; B. Lee 1-0-0-2; McCall 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 25-0-4-54)
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Andrews 2-1-1-8; Bradley 0-1-4-7; Nolan 3-0-0-6; Marshall 2-0-1-5; Matthews 2-0-0-4; Smith 0-0-2-2 (Totals: 9-2-8-32)