By By Adam Robinson – sports editor
Friday night's class 4A area two game between the W.S. Neal Eagles and the Andalusia Bulldogs was closer than it might have looked on the scoreboard.
Andalusia, ranked No. 9 in the state and carrying an 18-7 record, was supposed to have a cake walk with 4-19 W.S. Neal. At least that's what it looked like on paper.
Andalusia got the win it was looking for, but it sure was a tougher win than some might have predicted as the Bulldogs defeated W.S. Neal 62-41 and ended the season with a 4-20 record for the Eagles.
Suitts led a team who went winless on the court last year and guided them to four victories this year.
In Friday's game, after falling behind 7-0 with 4:26 left, W.S. Neal stormed back behind two 3-pointers from leading scorer William Shell to cut the lead to 9-8 with 2:09 left and trail 11-10 with 1:10 left in the quarter.
But a 6-0 run by the Bulldogs gave them a 17-10 first-quarter lead.
In the second quarter of play, the Bulldogs continued on their run and extended it to 10-0 as they built a 21-10 lead with 7:10 left in the half.
At the 6:45, Shell continued with his hot hand as he drained another 3-pointer for the Eagles to cut the lead to 21-13.
Scoring on the next two offensive possessions alternated back-and-forth for both teams as Shell drained another three and Jeremy Alexander and Chris Payne scored to close the gap to 33-22 Andalusia at the half.
In the third quarter, the Eagles came out on fire as they opened the game on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 33-31 with 4:56 after Payne and Alexander alternated buckets for the Eagles.
The only bad thing for the Eagles is that would be all the points scored in the quarter for them as Andalusia went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter with a 39-31 lead.
In the fourth quarter, depth was a problem for the Eagles as Andalusia subbed in fresh legs and extra ammunition and continued on their run and extended it to 14-0 and held a 47-31 lead with 4:54 left in the game.
Andalusia would outscore the Eagles 15-10 over the remainder of the game to take the win.
Payne added double figures to Shell's 16 as he finished with 13 points in the game.