By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
David McCollum told his players to celebrate the victory…for about three minutes.
Although glad to get his first victory under his belt as a high school head coach, the W.S. Neal Blue Eagles basketball skipper did not take long to put Monday's 44-40 home court win over the Northview (Fla.) Chiefs in the rearview mirror.
McCollum's first win and the Blue Eagles' first win of the season matched their win total of all last season.
Although it had a 15-13 halftime lead, W.S. Neal (1-2) had many of the same offensive problems that held it to 34 and 30 points in losses to Georgiana and Frisco City last week.
In the second half, the Blue Eagles started to find some offensive spark. They used a 17-9 third quarter run that extended their lead to 32-22.
In the fourth quarter, a couple of key buckets by Jared Cooper and Ronald Travis helped secure the win.
One troubling area that bit W.S. Neal again Monday was the free throw line. The Blue Eagles were just 11-for-25 from the charity stripe for the game and four-for-12 in the fourth period.
W.S. Neal's junior varsity ran its mark to 3-0 with a 31-16 win over Northview. Travis Barnes led the Blue Eagles with 10 points.
At W.S. Neal
Northview 9 4 9 18 – 40
W.S. Neal 6 9 17 12 – 44
NORTHVIEW (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Allen 6-0-2-14; Pierre 2-1-1-8; Ellis 2-1-0-7; McCants 3-0-1-7; Longsmir 2-0-0-4 (Totals: 15-2-4-40)
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Cooper 6-0-0-12; Thomas 2-1-5-12; Ron. Travis 2-0-2-6; V. Sanders 1-1-1-6; Alexander 1-1-0-5; Williamson 0-0-2-2; T. Sanders 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 12-3-11-44)
Junior varsity
Northview 4 4 4 4 – 16
W.S. Neal 11 14 2 4 – 31
NORTHVIEW (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Wright 3-0-0-6; Howard 2-0-0-4; Barnes 2-0-0-4; Lewis 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 8-0-0-16)
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Barnes 2-2-0-10; Wilson 2-0-2-6; Lambert 3-0-0-6; McMillan 2-0-0-4; S. Sanders 2-0-0-4 (Totals: 11-2-3-31)