By By Adam Robinson – sports editor
Outscored 19-8 in the first quarter and 27-11 in the first half-that is what the W.S. Neal Eagles faced Thursday night at home against the J.U. Blacksher Bulldogs as they fell 52-40 and dropped to 4-16 on the season.
While the visiting Bulldogs were hot in the first quarter and the first half, W.S. Neal was the hotter team in the second half as they outscored the Bulldogs 13-10 in the third quarter and 16-15 in the fourth quarter to hold a 29-25 scoring advantage in the second half.
In the game, after W.S. Neal opened the game with a two-pointer from Chris Payne to take an early 2-0 lead, Blacksher went on a 10-0 run to hold a 12-2 lead at the 3:45 mark.
Payne scored six of the Eagles eight first quarter points as Rashad Crook added the other two points for the Eagles as they trailed 14-8 at the 1:38 mark in the opening quarter before the Bulldogs went on a 5-0 run to hold a 19-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A quick 3-pointer to start the second quarter gave Blacksher a 22-8 lead before Jeremy Alexander responded with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 22-11 with 3:39 left before the break. That was all the points in the quarter for the Eagles as Blacksher scored five more points in the quarter to hold a 27-11 halftime lead.
As previously mentioned the second half was much better for the Eagles.
In the third quarter, the Eagles held a three-point advantage in the quarter, as they were able to cut the lead to 13 points and trailed 37-24 at the end of the third.
In the fourth quarter, W.S. Neal cut the lead to 11 points twice and had their chances to cut the lead to 10 and single digits, but J.U. Blacksher went on a 7-0 run to build a 50-32 lead with 3:39 left and held a 52-34 lead with 2:56 left.
The Eagles went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 52-40, but the first quarter hole proved too much as the Eagles lost by 12.
Three Eagles led in scoring as Jeremy Nicholson, Chris Payne and William Shell all had eight points.
W.S. Neal was scheduled to play Hillcrest Friday night at home and will be back in action at home on Thursday, Jan. 31 against Flomaton.
Game time is set for around 7 p.m. in East Brewton.