By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
It is not uncommon to see basketball teams make a big comeback only to hit a wall when they finally catch their opponent.
That happened to the W.S. Neal Lady Blue Eagles Tuesday, as they dropped a 42-35 decision at Pleasant Home in their final regular season game.
W.S. Neal found itself in an 18-2 hole after the first quarter, but the Lady Blue Eagles were able to climb out.
After the slow start, W.S. Neal cut the gap to 25-11 by half-time. A huge 17-4 run at the start of the third quarter pulled the Lady Blue Eagles even at 28-28.
"We went to a press and forced them into some turnovers. That helped get us back in the game," W.S. Neal coach Tom Lawler said.
Lakesha Marshall and Rhonda Bradley both hit three-pointers in that run, while Carolyn Marshall added a couple of key field goals.
Once W.S. Neal caught Pleasant Home, it was unable to get over the hump. Pleasant Home regrouped and scored the final four points of the period to regain the lead at 32-28. A 10-7 scoring edge in the final period secured the home team's victory.
Carolyn Marshall led W.S. Neal with 12 points. Lakesha Marshall, Lillian Fantroy and Bradley all added five.
The Lady Eagles, who finished up the regular season with a 3-15 record, open up Class 3A Area 1 Tournament play Friday at T.R. Miller with a 5 p.m. contest against Clarke County. The winner advances to Saturday's 5 p.m. title game against T.R. Miller.
At Pleasant Home
W.S. Neal 2 9 17 7 – 35
Pleasant Home 18 7 7 10 – 42
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) C. Marshall 4-1-1-12; L. Marshall 1-1-0-5; Fantroy 2-0-1-5; Bradley 1-1-0-5; Nolan 2-0-0-4; Smith 2-0-0-4 (Totals: 12-3-2-35)
PLEASANT HOME (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Jacobs 4-1-0-11; Lundy 3-1-0-9; Cox 3-0-1-7; Gunter 3-0-1-7; Little 2-0-0-4; Turman 1-0-0-2; Bryant 0-0-2-2 (Totals: 16-2-4-42)