By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
Even though their regular season ended with a 42-21 road loss to the Northview (Fla.) Chiefs Friday, the picture is certainly a lot more brighter for the W.S. Neal Blue Eagles than what it was when the week started.
Northview built a 25-10 lead in the first half and then outscored the Blue Eagles (5-21) 17-11 in the second half to net the win.
Johnathan Alexander led W.S. Neal with six points.
W.S. Neal's junior varsity finished up an 8-12 campaign with a 37-36 loss to Northview. Sherman Sanders paced W.S. Neal with 11 points.
The Blue Eagles now head into the Class 3A Area 1 Tournament Friday where they will take on top-seeded and host Clarke County at 7 p.m.
See EAGLES page 7
At Northview
W.S. Neal 4 6 4 7 – 21
Northview 12 13 8 9 – 42
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Alexander 3-0-0-6; Roh. Travis 1-0-3-5; Cooper 1-0-2-4; Ron. Travis 0-0-3-3; Green 1-0-0-2; Dexter 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 6-0-9-21)
NORTHVIEW (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Allen 7-0-4-18; Banks 4-0-1-9; Ellis 0-2-2-8; Kirkland 0-1-0-3; Scott 1-0-0-2; Cook 1-0-0-2 (Totals; 13-3-3-7-42)
Junior varsity
W.S. Neal 14 10 5 7 – 36
Northview 8 13 12 4 – 37
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) S. Sanders 5-0-1-11; Wilson 3-0-1-7; Barnes 2-0-2-6; Rutledge 2-0-0-4; Lambert 1-0-1-3; Boyd 1-0-0-2; B. Bradley 1-0-0-2; Peacock 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 15-0-6-36)
NORTHVIEW (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Levins 6-0-4-16; Hehasz 6-0-0-12; Barnes 2-0-1-5; Howard 2-0-0-4 (Totals: 16-0-5-37)
Thursday's game
W.S. Neal posted its first road win of the season Thursday, as it completed a season sweep of J.U. Blacksher with a 52-41 come-from-behind win on the Bulldogs' home court.
Down by as many as seven points as late as the final minute of the third quarter, the Blue Eagles put on a furious rally to snatch their third win in a row.
Antonio Green's bucket with five minutes left pulled W.S. Neal even at 37-37 with five minutes left and a field goal by Johnathan Alexander moments later put the Blue Eagles ahead in the midst of an 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter.
The Blue Eagles were a modest 12-for-22 from the free throw line until the final minuet when they nailed seven of eight attempts to close the door.
B.J. McMillian had three of those final charity tosses to go along with two each by Ronald Travis and Green.
Another key for W.S. Neal was its perimeter defense. J.U. Blacksher hit five treys in the first half, but none over the final two quarters.
W.S. Neal's junior varsity got a bucket in the final minute by Jimmy Wilson to edge J.U. Blacksher 27-26. Wilson scored a game high 13 points.
At J.U. Blacksher
W.S. Neal 9 12 9 22 – 52
J.U. Blacksher 9 12 14 6 – 41
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Alexander 5-0-4-14; Cooper 6-0-1-13; McMillian 1-0-6-8; Green 2-0-2-6; Thomas 0-1-2-5; Roh. Travis 1-0-2-4; Ron. Travis 0-0-2-2 (Totals: 15-1-19-52)
J.U. BLACKSHER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Nichols 3-2-1-13; Packer 3-1-2-11; Caraway 2-0-3-7; Dailey 1-1-0-5; Plant 0-1-0-3; Hill 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 10-5-6-41)
Junior varsity
W.S. Neal 7 10 3 7 – 27
J.U. Blacksher 4 6 9 7 – 26
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Wilson 3-2-1-13; Lambert 1-0-2-4; Barnes 0-1-0-3; B. Bradley 0-0-3-3; S. Sanders 1-0-0-2; Rutledge 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 6-3-6-27)
J.U. BLACKSHER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Akins 1-1-1-6; McClain 2-0-1-5; Goldman 2-0-0-4; Jenkins 2-0-0-4; Graves 1-0-0-2; Chavers 1-0-0-2; Graves 1-0-0-2; Ikner 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 10-1-3-26)
Tuesday's game
The Blue Eagles offset their lowest offensive output of the season with their best defensive outing of the season, as they closed out their home campaign with an 18-17 victory over the Pleasant Home Eagles.
It was the second time in as many nights W.S. Neal defeated a team it had had lost to earlier in the season. The Blue Eagles, who avenged a loss to Frisco City on Monday, had lost to Pleasant Home 45-24 back in November.
Down 12-7 at halftime, the Blue Eagles used a couple of key buckets by Ron Dexter and another hoop by Cecil Thomas to rally and take a 16-13 lead into the fourth quarter.
Two baskets by Pleasant Home's Adam Copeland gave Pleasant Home a 17-16 lead headed into the final minute until W.S. Neal's Antonio Green scored the game-winner with 12 seconds left.
The Blue Eagles' junior varsity also knocked off Pleasant Home 43-36 thanks to 13 points by Travis Barnes.
At W.S. Neal
Pleasant Home 7 5 1 4 – 17
W.S. Neal 3 4 9 2 – 18
PLEASANT HOME (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Copeland 2-0-1-5; Page 0-1-0-3; Mills 0-1-0-3; Edgar 0-1-0-3; Sanders 0-0-2-2; Huclabaa 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 2-3-4-17)
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Cooper 1-0-3-5; Dexter 2-0-0-4; Thomas 1-0-2-4; Alexander 0-1-0-3; Green 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 5-1-5-18)
Junior varsity
Pleasant Home 7 8 14 7 – 36
W.S. Neal 11 6 15 11 – 43
PLEASANT HOME (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Taylor 3-1-3-12; Powell 2-1-1-8; Bush 2-1-1-8; King 0-0-3-3; Ballard 0-1-0-3; Weaver 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 8-4-8-36)
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Barnes 3-1-4-13; Wilson 3-0-2-8; Lambert 2-0-1-5; B. Bradley 2-0-0-4; S. Sanders 1-0-1-3; J. Bradley 1-0-0-2; Boyd 1-0-0-2; Peacock 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 16-1-8-43)
dams 0-1-0-3; Marshall 1-0-0-2; Floyd 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 10-1-4-27)