By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
What figured to be the toughest week of the season for the W.S. Neal Blue Eagles also proved to be perhaps the most frustrating week.
W.S. Neal dropped its third Area road game in four nights Friday when it fell to the Straughn Tigers 58-45.
It took Straughn (1-1 in the Area) most of the game to put away the Blue Eagles (4-13 overall and 0-4 in Area). The Tigers led 16-15 after a quarter, 27-22 at halftime and 42-35 through three stops.
Free throws a big item in the game, as Straughn had a 23-7 advantage in attempts and a 16-3 edge in points.
Jake Bailey had a season high 19 points to lead W.S. Neal, while Jonathan Alexander had 11.
W.S. Neal's junior varsity came up on the short end of a 29-26 decision at Straughn.
Jimmy Wilson led the Blue Eagles (8-3) with 11 points.
W.S. Neal returns home Tuesday where it entertains Northview (Fla.).
At Straughn
W.S. Neal 15 7 13 10 – 45
Straughn 16 11 15 16 – 58
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Bailey 9-0-1-19; Alexander 4-1-0-11; Thomas 0-2-0-6; McMillian 1-0-2-4; Ron. Travis 0-1-0-3; Roh. Travis 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 15-4-3-45)
STRAUGHN (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Freeney 8-0-3-19; Carter 2-1-7-14; Tren. Driver 2-0-4-8; Trev. Driver 2-0-0-4; Huggins 2-0-0-4; Jones 0-1-0-3; Cottle 1-0-1-3; Parnell 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 18-2-16-58)
Junior varsity
W.S. Neal 9 4 9 4 – 26
Straughn 7 9 9 4 – 29
W.S. Neal (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Wilson 3-1-2-11; B. Bradley 2-0-0-4; Brazile 2-0-0-4; J. Travis 1-0-1-3; McCreary 1-0-0-2; Nicholson 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 10-1-3-26)
STRAUGHN (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Yelverton 1-1-1-6; Myers 3-0-0-6; Powell 2-0-0-4; Felton 2-0-0-4; Taylor 2-0-0-4; Armstrong 0-0-2-2; Raben 1-0-0-2; Kinsaw 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 11-1-4-29)
WSN falls at Clarke County
The Blue Eagles allowed a season high in the points department Thursday when they dropped an 81-52 Area 1 decision at Clarke County.
W.S. Neal trailed just 17-14 after the first quarter, but the Bulldogs stretched that
cushion to 38-22 by halftime and 64-34 by the end of the third quarter.
Clarke County hit 10 three-pointers in the game, four of which came from Ben Burroughs. Ben Burroughs and Kenneth Kimbrough each clipped the nets for 20 points to lead all scorers.
W.S. Neal, which suffered its eighth straight loss, got a team best eight points from Jake Bailey and Cecil Thomas.
W.S. Neal's junior varsity got back on the winning side Thursday with a 32-29 win over Clarke County. It was the same score the Blue Eagles won by when the teams hooked up at east Brewton six days earlier.
Jimmy Wilson scored 13 points to pace W.S. Neal (8-2), while Jamar Travis had nine.
At Clarke County
W.S. Neal 14 8 12 18 – 52
Clarke County 17 21 26 17 – 81
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Bailey 4-0-0-8; Thomas 1-2-0-8; Barksdale 2-0-3-7; Roh. Travis 3-0-1-7; Madison 3-0-1-7; Ron. Travis 2-0-0-4; Sanders 2-0-0-4; Alexander 1-0-2-4; McMillian 0-1-0-3 (Totals: 18-3-7-52)
CLARKE COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) B. Burroughs 1-4-6-20; Kimbrough 9-0-2-20;
See WSN BOYS Page 4B
Taite 2-3-1-14; J. Burroughs 1-1-2-7; Anderson 2-0-0-4; Osborne 2-0-0-4; Williams 2-0-0-4; Owens 0-1-0-3; Stabler 0-1-0-3; Robinson 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 20-10-11-81)
Junior varsity
W.S. Neal 7 12 4 9 – 32
Clarke County 0 8 5 16 – 29
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Wilson 2-3-0-13; J. Travis 4-0-1-9; Payne 4-0-0-8; Brazile 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 11-3-1-32)
CLARKE COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) J. Horn 1-3-0-11; Ely 2-1-1-8; Frazier 2-0-0-4; C. Horn 0-1-0-3; Swell 1-0-0-2; McCaskey 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 6-5-2-29)