By By Adam Robinson
sports editor
After earning wins in the first two rounds of play in the Escambia County tournament, the W.S. Neal Eagles fell in round three to Atmore.
The loss dropped the Eagles in a three-way tie for first place, but had to settle for second place after tie-breaking rules for the least points given up.
W.S. Neal defeated Flomaton Friday night in round one 59-46 and defeated T.R. Miller in round two on Saturday 87-44 to improve to 2-0 in the tournament and 10-4 overall.
On Monday in the championship game, the Eagles lost 63-49 to the Blue Devils to fall to 10-5 overall.
W.S. Neal 59, Flomaton 46
After the first quarter of play Friday night against Flomaton in their first round game, the W.S. Neal Eagles trailed 16-3 after a 12-0 run in the quarter by the Hurricanes and 16-7 at the end of the quarter.
From that point on, W.S. Neal outscored the Hurricanes 26-8 in the second quarter and 26-22 in the second half to pull out a 59-46 win over Flomaton.
With the game tied 2-2 with 7:16 to play in the first quarter, Flomaton used a 12-0 run to hold a 14-2 lead with 4:04 to play and a 16-3 lead with 2:03 to play.
W.S. Neal cut the lead to nine points heading into the second quarter.
With the Eagles trailing 24-23 with 1:31 left before the halftime break, W.S. Neal went on a 10-0 run to end the quarter with a 33-24 lead.
The run was extended to 19-0 with 2:59 left in the third quarter to lead 42-24 before Flomaton ended the run and the Eagles led 42-31 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, W.S. Neal held a 17-15 lead to take the 13-point win.
Bob Elliott led W.S. Neal with 16 points and Sam Ewing added 15.
Jeremy Nicholson had 10 points and Ashton Elliott had six.
Rashad Crook and Tra Dixon had four each and Jeremy Alexander and Monterrius Culliver had two points each in the win.
W.S. Neal 87, T.R. Miller 44
An 11-0 run to start the game for the Eagles and a 10-0 run to end the quarter gave W.S. Neal a 23-4 lead after one quarter of play as the crushed T.R. Miller 87-44 Saturday.
Already with a 19-point lead at the end of the first quarter, W.S. Neal outscored the Tigers 26-15 in the second quarter to hold a 49-19 lead at the half and after a 19-13 third quarter, held a 68-32 lead after three quarters of play.
W.S. Neal then had a 19-12 advantage in the fourth quarter to claim the 43-point win.
For the Tigers, Walter Smith led with 11 points in the loss and Derrick Riley, Terez Lane, and Darrion Salter had eight points.
Keenan Pride chipped in seven points and Antonio Payne had two.
For the Eagles, Elliott had 20 points and Rashad Crook had 14 points. Ewing had 12 points and Colby McCorvey had 10.
Jeremy Nicholson had eight points and Ashton Elliott and Culliver had five points each along with T.J. Davis.
Dixon and Alexander had four points each.
Escambia County 63,
W.S. Neal 49
Free throws have been an issue for the W.S. Neal Eagles this season and once again, it proved to be the downfall of the Eagles Monday night as it cost the Eagles the Escambia County tournament against Atmore.
Needing one more win to take the championship, the Eagles shot 8-for-25 and was outscored 10-3 in the third quarter to lose by 14 points to eventual champion Escambia County.
The loss dropped W.S. Neal to 2-1 in the tournament and to 10-5 overall.
Escambia County led 25-20 after the first quarter before W.S. Neal cut into the lead by one at halftime to trail 36-32.
In the third quarter, W.S. Neal was held to only three points while the Blue Devils struck for 10 to hold a 46-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Atmore used a 7-0 run to take a 58-43 lead with 1:53 left to play and take the win by 14 points.
Elliott led with 12 points and Ewing followed with 11.
Jeremy Nicholson poured in eight points and Tra Dixon had five points along with Crook. Ashton Elliott had three points in the loss for the Eagles.
McCorvey and Alexander had two points.
T.J. Davis had one points in the loss.
Ewing, Elliott, and Nicholson were named to the all tournament team for the Eagles.