By Staff
There were some signs of progress.
Unfortunately for the W.S. Neal Blue Eagles there were not enough of them, as they dropped a 36-27 road decision to the Georgiana Panthers Tuesday.
First, the good. The 36 points W.S. Neal allowed matched its second best defensive performance of the season (its season best is 32 at Frisco City).
Although their offense was held in the 20s for the fifth straight game, the 27 points the Blue Eagles scored were the most they had registered since they posted 31 against Andalusia at the T.R. Miller Tournament.
Perhaps most importantly, W.S. Neal got itself in position to have an opportunity for a win after it had lost its previous two games to Straughn and Andalusia by a combined 90 points.
The Blue Eagles (2-16) had a 9-5 edge after one quarter and still led 15-14 at halftime thanks to a pair of first half field goals by both B.J. McMillian and Cecil Thomas.
Georgiana started to make its move in the third quarter. Seven points by P.J. McMean, who led all players with 13 points, hit a three-pointer and two other field goals that helped move the Panthers in front 24-21.
Terrance Matthews hit a couple of key field goals for Georgiana in the fourth quarter that helped seal the win.
W.S. Neal, which hit just two second half field goals, got a team best 10 points from Thomas.
The Blue Eagles' junior varsity went down to defeat against Georgiana by a 29-21 margin.
W.S. Neal, which had only three players score, got a team high nine points from Johnathan Alexander.
At Georgiana
W.S. Neal 9 6 6 6 – 27
Georgiana 5 9 10 12 – 36
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Thomas 4-0-2-10; McMillian 2-0-0-4; Cooper 2-0-0-4; Green 1-0-2-4; Ron. Travis 0-1-0-3; Roh. Travis 0-0-2-2 (Totals: 9-1-6-27)
GEORGIANA (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) McMean 4-1-2-13; Peterson 2-1-2-9; Matthews 2-0-1-5; Williams 1-0-1-3; Campbell 1-0-0-2; Mobley 0-0-1-1; Hartin 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 11-2-8-36)
Junior varsity
W.S. Neal 6 2 7 6 – 21
Georgiana 2 7 9 11 – 29
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FT-FT-TP) Alexander 2-1-2-9; B. Bradley 3-0-0-6; S. Sanders 3-0-0-6 (Totals: 8-1-2-21)
GEORGIANA (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Davison 3-0-4-10; Phillips 3-0-0-6; Rich 2-0-0-4; Hall 1-0-2-4; Lee 1-0-2-4; Cheatham 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 10-0-9-29)