By By Adam Robinson – sports editor
With last Monday's 46-14 win over archrival W.S. Neal in the girls Escambia County tournament finale, the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers proved once again that they are the best girls basketball team in the county.
With the win, the Lady Tigers improved to 23-1 in Escambia County tournament games since the tournament began back in 2001.
The Tigers have gone a perfect 3-0 in tournament games from 2001-2005 and most recent in this year's tournament and last year's tournament.
The Tigers only defeat was in the 2006 tournament when they fell to Escambia County 49-39 in the championship game.
Before the 2006 loss to Escambia County, the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers were 17-0 in tournament games. Now the Tigers are 23-1 against county teams in the tournament.
In this year's tournament games, T.R. Miller outscored their opponents by a total of 71 points in the three games played. The Tigers scored a total of 147 points in this year's tournament and gave up 73.
That is an average of 48 points a game to 24 points.
T.R. Miller defeated Flomaton in the opener Friday night by 18 points, Escambia County by 21 points and W.S. Neal by 32 in the Monday finale.
T.R. Miller outscored their opponents by eight points in the first quarter (26-18), 48 in the second quarter (56-8), 13 in the third quarter (29-16) and five in the fourth quarter (36-31).
Even though there are more than just three county tournament games on the schedule, the 23-1 record in the county tournament over the eight-year span is a remarkable feat.
The Lady Tigers are currently 7-1 on the 2008-2009 season. The Lady Tigers lost their first game of the season to Pensacola High School but have since gone on to win seven straight games.
Last year, the Lady Tigers won 16 straight games after a 5-4 start and went to the class 4A final four before losing to Deshler.
May I remind you that was with no seniors.
I know, I know. I know exactly what you are thinking.
That was last year and this is this year, but with all those players coming back, I am sure a run here and there or even a run added on to this current run and the Lady Tigers might even end back in Birmingham.
Also, congratulations to our all-state football players in Mabry Cook, Johntae Brown, Cody Swain and Jamar Travis.
I want to wish all area teams the best of luck this week and hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a great 2009.
One last thing, did you see the Southern Miss player break his leg in the bowl game against Troy?
Man, that was ugly.
And I thought Alabama player Tyrone Prothro's break in a game against Florida was nasty.
Now for the awards.
This is the last day of the year, and soon the blueberries will come down at the Blueberry Drop and we usher in the new year of 2009.
Man how the year has flown by so quickly.
With the end of the year now upon us and a new one about to be wished in, here are my awards for the 2008 sports season.
Here we go!
Best clutch player
I give this award to East Brewton Little League All-Star pitcher Dylan Godwin.
Godwin helped lead the All Stars to a 3-0 win over Brewton for the East Brewton 11-and-12-year-old all stars.
Godwin not only got the win on the mound for East Brewton over Brewton, but also pitched a perfect game while doing so.
Godwin went six innings and allowed no runs, no hits, and no walks and recorded nine strikeouts.
Best coaching job
I give this award to all three basketball coaches at W.S. Neal High School right now, with boys head basketball coach Blaine Hathcock taking the overall award.
Basketball at W.S. Neal has been down in years past with the boys team suffering the most.
Before this season, if my records are correct, the boys had four wins in 2007, none in 2006 (on the court) and one in 2005. That is five wins in three seasons and as of right now, the Eagles have nine wins.
As of right now, I have the Eagle B team at 7-1, the girls at 7-4 and the boys at 9-5.
Last year, the final records were 7-13 for B team, 7-17 for the girls and 4-20 for the boys.
That is 18 total wins and as of right now, all three teams are a combined 23 wins.
Congratulations to coaches Quarles, Stephens and Hathcock for getting their teams on the road to success.
Best comeback
I give this award to the T.R. Miller football team. After a 5-6 season in 2007, the Tigers named this 2008 season as the comeback. This season the team went 13-1 and made it to the semifinals before losing to Cordova.
The Tigers outscored their opponents 535-208 in their 14 games and 309-100 in the region this season.
Even more fitting for a season named the comeback, the Tigers had three one-point wins, with two of those coming from behind and had another three-point win in which they came from behind this season.
Just a little FYI for next season, the Tigers are sitting at 99-22 for the current decade and with their first win in the 2009 season, the Tigers will reach 100 wins.
Congratulations to the 2008 T.R. Miller Tiger football team, coaches and staff.
Best game
I give this award to the W.S. Neal versus T.R. Miller Tiger baseball game in the Escambia County baseball tournament.
The two teams played to a 1-0 decision in nine innings in East Brewton. Eagle pitcher William Shell earned the win for the Eagles on the mound as he went the complete game and had 19 strikeouts.
Shell faced off against Tiger pitcher Derek Busby. Busby had 15 strikeouts in seven innings of work.
Congratulations to both of these teams on a great game.
There are two other teams that I think need recognition, but I can't put it into an award title.
The 2007-2008 T.R. Miller Lady Tiger basketball team reaching the final four with no seniors and the 2008 girls cross country team taking the 3A runner up spots.
Both of these teams did not win a state championship, but these two teams finished top four and top two in the state with no seniors on the teams.
More important, the cross country team accomplished this feat with just one junior, three freshman, one eighth grader, and three seventh graders competing.
Congratulations to both of these teams.
While these awards are not real awards, I thought this was a great way to cap off the year.
The year 2008 has been a good one to me and I hope it has been the same for you.
While there were some not so good times, the good outweighed the bad by far.
I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and to a great 2009 in the world of sports for The Brewton Standard.
Until we meet again, God bless.