By Staff
In the season opener for the W.S. Neal Middle School basketball teams Monday at home, the girls held on for their first win and the boys lost in overtime.
W.S. Neal girls 16,
Jay 13
A 10-3 advantage in the third quarter after trailing 6-2 at halftime gave the Lady Eagles a 16-13 win in their first game of the season Monday.
W.S. Neal trailed 6-2 in the first quarter and both teams went scoreless in the second quarter to give Jay a four-point lead at the half.
W.S. Neal answered with 10 points in the third quarter that included a 6-0 run to claim the lead at 8-6 with 2:32 left in the third quarter as they lead 12-9 heading into the fourth.
In the fourth, both teams scored four each as W.S. Neal hung on for the three-point win.
Shyler Dees led with eight points in the win and Jasmine Crook and Mariah Davis both had four in the win.
Jay 32,
W.S. Neal boys 21 OT
W.S. Neal was outscored 16-5 in overtime after rallying to tie the game at 16-16 at the end of regulation to drop their first game of the season 32-21.
Jay led 8-2 at the end of the first quarter and 8-4 at the half after being held to no points while the Eagles had two in the quarter.
In the third, W.S. Neal outscored Jay 6-3 to cut the lead to 11-10 at the end of three quarters.
In the fourth, Jay was 5-for-10 at the free throw line. W.S. Neal cut the lead to 15-14 with 2:05 left in the game.
From there, Jay went ahead 16-14 with 1:29 left and missed two free throws. Earnest Benjamin picked up an offensive rebound after a missed shot for the Eagles and scored with 5.2 seconds left to tie the game at 16-16.
After a Jay timeout and turnover, W.S. Neal missed a shot at the buzzer to get the win as the game went into overtime.
In overtime, the Royals jumped out to a 22-16 lead and never looked back outscoring W.S. Neal by 11 in the extra period to win by 11.
Benjamin led with 13 points followed by four from Michael Williams, and two from Darius Benjamin and Quantae Barksdale.
The Lady Eagles won 16-13 and the boys won 42-11.
W.S. Neal Lady Eagles 16, McCall 13
The Lady Eagles of W.S. Neal Middle School had to hang on for a win Thursday at home to remain undefeated at 3-0 with a 16-13 win over McCall.
W.S. Neal led 8-2 at the end of the first quarter, but was outscored 4-2 in the second quarter to have their lead cut to 10-6 at the half.
Both teams scored four points each in the third quarter as W.S. Neal led 14-10 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, W.S. Neal was held to only two points at the 3:44 mark while McCall scored three, but was 1-for-8 from the free throw line. W.S. Neal was able to hang on for the three-point win.
Shyler Dees led the Lady Eagles with eight points and Mariah Davis followed with four points.
Daisha Flowers and Jasmine Crook both had two points each in the win.
W.S. Neal boys 42,
McCall 11
The W.S. Neal boys trailed 2-0 five minutes into the game, but from that point, went on a 13-0 run in the quarter and never looked back. The Eagles picked up their first win in a huge way defeating McCall by 31 points.
W.S. Neal led 13-2 after the first quarter and 25-6 at the half as they held a 12-4 advantage in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, W.S. Neal outscored McCall 11-2 to claim a 36-8 lead and ended the game with a 14-3 run to win 42-11.
The win improved W.S. Neal to 1-2 overall this season.
Ernst Benjamin led with 10 points and Trevor Burns followed with nine.
Rob Jones, Zach Haveard, and Quantae Barksdale had four each and Antwan Jones had three.
Michael Williams, Devin Stallworth, Alex O’Keene, and Ty Alexander had two points in the win.