By By Bruce Hixon Standard Sports Editor
Just when the W.S. Neal Blue Eagles thought they had seen a ray of light after their win over J.U. Blacksher earlier in the week, the storm clouds rolled back in and showered them with a 63-20 loss to the host UMS-Wright Bulldogs Friday.
The 20 points scored was a season low for the Blue Eagles, whose previous season low had been 22 against T.R. Miller at the Escambia County Tournament.
"I can't knock our effort. The kids played hard throughout the game and that's not easy when you're losing by that kind of margin. We're having a tough time scoring. We just need to keep working hard to get better," W.S. Neal coach David McCollum said. "UMS-Wright was the best team we've seen so far. They had both athleticism and discipline."
It did not take long for Friday'sgame to slip away from W.S. Neal (2-8). UMS-Wright zipped out to a 14-5 lead after one quarter and extended it to 30-7 by halftime. The Bulldogs then outscored the Blue Eagles 16-7 in the third quarter and 17-6 in the final frame to seal the verdict.
Ben McMillan led W.S. Neal with eight points, while Ronald Travis added seven.
W.S. Neal's junior varsity also took one on the chin at UMS-Wright Friday, as they suffered a 35-20 setback.
The Blue Eagles (4-3) had just three players score, as Johnathan Alexander led the way with 12 points.
W.S. Neal is off until December 27 when it opens up its portion of the T.R. Miller Holiday Tournament with a first-round game against the host Tigers at 7:30 p.m.
At UMS-Wright
W.S. Neal 5 2 7 6 – 20
UMS-Wright 14 16 16 17 – 63
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) McMillan 4-0-0-8; Ron. Travis 0-2-1-7; Thomas 0-1-0-3; Dexter 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 5-3-1-20)
UMS-WRIGHT (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Mitchell 3-3-1-16; Cuttrell 6-1-0-15; Gibson 4-0-2-10; Roose 2-0-3-7; Franklin 2-0-2-6; Dodson 1-1-0-5; Gonealzes 0-0-2-2; Hayes 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 19-5-10-63)
Junior varsity
W.S. Neal 3 5 3 9 – 20
UMS-Wright 8 11 7 9 – 35
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Alexander 2-1-5-12; Wilson 0-1-1-4; Bradley 2-0-0-4 (Totals: 4-2-6-20)
UMS-WRIGHT (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Crane 1-3-1-12; McGowin 3-0-3-9; Terry 2-0-0-4; Bradley 1-0-1-3; McClelland 1-0-1-3; Harvey 1-0-0-2; Cope 0-0-2-2 (Totals: 9-3-8-35)