By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
Escambia County sent the W.S. Neal Lady Blue Eagles limping into the postseason with their largest margin of defeat of the season Friday when they steamrolled their way to a 91-24 victory at Atmore.
The Lady Blue Devils (24-5 and ranked No. 5 in the state in Class 4A) stormed their way to a 26-10 lead through one quarter and widened the gap to 48-17 by halftime. Escambia County was even more dominant in the second half where it outscored the Lady Blue Eagles (6-20) 43-7. That included a 22-1 tear in the third quarter.
W.S. Neal, which lost for the 13th time in its last 14 games, was led by Tiara Matthews with 10 points.
The Lady Blue Eagles will open up play at the Class 4A Area 2 Tournament Thursday at Andalusia where they will take on the top-seeded and host Lady Bulldogs at 7 p.m.
At Escambia County
W.S. Neal 10 7 1 6 - 24
Escambia Co. 26 22 22 21 - 91
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Matthews 3-0-4-10; Folmar 0-0-5-5; Elliott 2-0-0-4; Thomas 1-0-1-3; Day 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 7-0-10-24)
ESCAMBIA COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) English 7-1-2-19; Jones 9-0-0-18; Kidd 7-0-3-17; Sanders 5-0-0-10; Hartley 3-0-0-6; Jennings 3-0-0-6; Crenshaw 2-0-0-4; Culliver 1-0-2-4; Lee 0-1-0-3; Banks 1-0-0-2; Craft 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 39-2-7-91)
Lady Canes edge WSN
W.S. Neal raced out to an 11-0 lead in the first quarter, but could not sustain the quick start in Thursday's 35-32 home loss to the Flomaton Lady Hurricanes.
The Lady Blue Eagles got off to the early lead thanks to three three-pointers by Freida Folmar and a field goal by Ashley Alexander, but Flomaton narrowed the gap to just 13-9 by the end of the first quarter and edged ahead 18-16 by halftime.
W.S. Neal moved back in front for the final time with a minute left in the third quarter when a field goal by Tiara Matthews put the Lady Blue Eagles up 28-26.
The Lady Hurricanes tied it at 28-28 just before the quarter ended on a bucket by Whitney Hoomes and took the lead for good in the opening moments of the fourth quarter on a hoop by Brittney Mallet.
W.S. Neal had its share of chances to overhaul the Lady Hurricanes in the fourth quarter, but hit just one of nine field goal attempts.
At W.S. Neal
Flomaton 9 9 10 7 - 35
W.S. Neal 13 3 12 4 - 32
FLOMATON (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Harden 4-0-2-10; Mallet 2-1-2-9; Hambrick 2-0-0-4; Hoomes 2-0-0-4; Cayson 1-0-1-3; Wright 1-0-1-3; Gafford 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 13-1-6-35)
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Folmar 1-3-0-11; Matthews 4-0-2-10; Elliott 3-0-0-6; Alexander 2-0-0-4; Thomas 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 10-3-3-32)
Georgiana avoids sweep
W.S. Neal was unable to complete a three-game season sweep of the Georgiana Lady Panthers Tuesday when it dropped a 48-33 road decision.
The Lady Blue Eagles had beaten Georgiana 51-31 back in the season opener and again 33-25 at the W.S. Neal Invitational, but the Lady Panthers quickly made sure history would not repeat itself.
Georgiana used four buckets by Alisha Cheatham in the opening quarter to take an 11-7 lead. The biggest item came in the second quarter where the Lady Blue Eagles managed just a pair of free throws by Rachel Davis and were outscored 14-2, as Georgiana widened its lead to 25-9 by halftime.
The Lady Panthers were able to maintain a double-digit lead throughout the second half, as they got three buckets by Sharran Matthew in the third quarter and three more buckets by Shamelka Rogers in the final frame.
W.S. Neal, which was led by Davis' 14 points, hurt its chances considerably at the free throw line where it was just six-for-19. That included a five-for-15 effort in the second half.
At Georgiana
W.S. Neal 7 2 10 14 - 33
Georgiana 11 14 12 11 - 48
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Davis 6-0-2-14; Elliott 2-1-2-9; Thomas 1-0-2-4; Alexander 1-0-0-2; Folmar 1-0-0-2; Jones 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 12-1-6-33)
GEORGIANA (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) A. Cheatham 5-0-0-10; P. Cheatham 4-0-1-9; Rogers 3-0-0-6; Matthew 3-0-0-6; Betts 2-0-1-5; Mobley 2-0-0-4; Peterson 2-0-0-4; Nept 1-0-0-2; Rich 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 23-0-2-48)