By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
Poor field goal shooting was not the biggest problem the Brewton Middle School Tigers had against the W.S. Neal Middle School Blue Eagles.
It was getting off shot attempts.
W.S. Neal's swarming defense carried the Blue Eagles to their first win over BMS in a couple of years Monday, as they downed the Tigers 35-18 at T.R. Miller High School. It was the second straight win to start the young season for W.S. Neal, while it was a rough season debut for Brewton.
The Blue Eagles held Brewton scoreless for nearly 11 minutes, a stretch that began halfway through the second quarter and did not end until early in the final frame. During that time W.S. Neal turned what had been a close game into a rout.
Percy Travis' three-pointer with just over a minute left in the first quarter erased a 5-4 Brewton lead and the Tigers never led again.
Brewton, which got two three-pointers by Devlin Crosby in the first quarter, briefly caught the Blue Eagles when Kirk Moore's bucket with three minutes left in the half tied the game at 13-13.
Travis snapped that deadlock with a pull-up jumper from the top of the lane with a minute left in the first half to put W.S. Neal back in front, this time to stay. Travis' bucket started a decisive 10-0 run by the Blue Eagles that extended the lead to 23-13.
While Jaren Jackson's bucket with just over four minutes left finally snapped Brewton's long scoreless drought, it did little to get the Tigers going.
Two buckets by Travis, who led all scorers with 16 points, and one each by DeParish Campbell and Monterius Culliver put the Blue Eagles in firm control with a 31-15 advantage.
Brewton's girls kicked off their season on a much better note, as they knocked off W.S. Neal 26-3.
The Lady Tigers allowed just one basket, a three-pointer by Jakeshia Hunter, and scored the game's final 24 points.
Brewton's offense got off to a bit of a sluggish start. W.S. Neal's lone bucket had the Lady Blue Eagles (0-2) in front 3-2 until late in the first period when buckets by Courtney Jones and Leah Brundidge put Brewton up 6-3.
The Lady Tigers extended that cushion to 12-3 by halftime thanks to a pair of buckets by Natalie Neal and one by Brundidge in the second quarter.
Brewton got three buckets by Shanequa Kiser and two each by Zakedra Taylor and Adrian Gibbs in the second half to complete the second half shutout string.
W.S. Neal, which hosted Flomaton Tuesday, is now in the midst of a 14-day layoff until it plays again Nov. 27 when it hosts Jay, Fla. Play starts with the girls game at 3 p.m.
Brewton will host Ernest Ward Thursday. That action starts at 5:30 p.m. with the girls game.
Girls
W.S. Neal 3 0 0 0 – 3
Brewton 6 6 4 10 – 26
W.S. NEAL- J. Hunter 3
BREWTON- Kiser 6, Taylor 4, Gibbs 4, Neal 4, Brundidge 4, Jones 4
W.S. Neal 11 4 8 12 - 35
Brewton 8 5 0 5 - 18
W.S. NEAL- Travis 16, Kiser 11, Campbell 2, Adkins 2, Elliott 2, Culliver 2
BREWTON- Crosby 7, Moore 6, J. Jackson 2, Mallard 2, Salter 1