By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
If the W.S. Neal Blue Eagles have their say, they will probably name the next hurricane that goes through this area C.J.
Flomaton guard C.J. Williams made a big impression with the Blue Eagles Saturday, as he shot the Hurricanes to a 56-37 victory in the unofficial third place game of the Escambia County Tournament.
Williams blistered the nets for 31 points, 24 of which came on eight three-pointers.
"You have to give him credit. He hit a lot of tough shots and quite frankly he hit some shots we have not normally seen him make," W.S. Neal coach David McCollum said.
McCollum was actually not around to see the final minute of Saturday's game after he was ejected with a second technical foul. That perhaps summed up a frustrating final two days at the tournament for the Blue Eagles.
After the Blue Eagles scored a season high 59 points in the opening round against Escambia County, they scored a season low 22 the next day against T.R. Miller. It was not until late in Saturday's game that W.S. Neal eclipsed 30 points.
"We're a much better team than we showed the last couple of days. It's frustrating, but our players aren't going to give up and we're not going to give up on them. These guys are the foundation for our program," McCollum said.
Three early buckets by Cecil Thomas had the Blue Eagles out in front 6-2. After Flomaton hit just one field goal in the first six minutes, treys by Williams and Clay Simpson put the Hurricanes ahead for good.
W.S. Neal (1-7), which trailed 10-8 after a quarter, got as close as 14-13 after Terrell Sanders' three-point play halfway through the second quarter.
Williams, who had 19 points in the first half, heated up for 14, over the final four minutes of the second quarter that quickly boosted Flomaton's halftime lead to 30-15. That stretch included four three-pointers.
Even though W.S. Neal held Williams to a lone three-pointer in the third quarter, they actually lost a little ground. Instead Simpson picked up the slack with a three-point play and two other field goals, as the Hurricanes lead grew to 41-24.
It grew to a game high bulge of 50-28 after Williams hit two technical foul free throws with five minutes left.
At Escambia County
W.S. Neal 8 7 9 13 – 37
Flomaton 10 20 11 15 – 56
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) T. Sanders 2-1-3-10; Thomas 5-0-0-10; R. Sanders 1-1-0-5; Cooper 2-0-0-4; Ron. Travis 2-0-0-4; Hester 1-0-0-2; McMillan 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 14-2-3-37)
FLOMATON (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Williams 2-8-1-31; Simpson 4-1-1-12; Ellis 3-0-0-6; Bush 1-0-1-3; Herndon 0-0-2-2; White 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 11-9-7-56)