By By Adam Robinson
sports editor
After not playing in a basketball game since their last game of the Escambia County Tournament on Dec. 21, the W.S. Neal Eagle basketball game found scoring in their area game Tuesday night at home difficult.
The Eagles posted only one quarter of double digit scoring while being held to four, three, and eight in the other three quarters to fall 66-29 to the Jackson Aggies.
The loss dropped the Eagles to 10-6 overall and to 0-2 in area play.
The Eagles were outscored 16-4 in the first quarter, 21-3 in the second, and 17-8 in the fourth quarter while holding a 14-12 advantage in the third quarter.
W.S. Neal started the game on top with a 2-0 lead at the 7:20 mark after Bob Elliott’s basket.
From that point, Jackson went on an 8-0 run to grab an 8-2 lead at the 5:03 mark.
Elliott once again got W.S. Neal back on the board with a basket at the 3:50 mark to cut the lead to 8-4. But, once again, the Eagles fell to an 8-0 run to end the quarter with a 16-4 lead after the first quarter of play.
Jackson continued on their run to start the second quarter as they extended it to a 12-0 run to take a 20-4 lead with 7:16 left to play.
Elliott picked up his fifth point of the night to end the run with a 1-for-2 shooting at the free throw line to make the score 20-5 with 6:56 left in the quarter.
W.S. Neal managed only three points in the second quarter, all on free throws, as they were 3-for-9 in the quarter.
Jackson would go on to have a 13-0 run in the quarter to hold a 33-5 lead with 1:23 left before halftime and end the quarter on a 4-0 run. They scored 21 points to the Eagles’ three to hold a 30-point lead at the half, 37-7.
Both teams would alternate buckets to start the third quarter. W.S. Neal would go on a 6-0 run to cut the Aggie lead to 40-15 at the 4:42 mark of the third quarter.
The third quarter was the only quarter of the night the Eagles would outscore Jackson as they held a 14-12 advantage in the quarter to cut the lead by two and trail 49-21 to end the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Jackson was able to finish off the Eagles with runs of 5-0 and 8-0 to build leads of 54-21 and hold W.S. Neal scoreless the last 2:41 of the game to claim the win by 37 points.
Elliott led the Eagles with 13 points and Jeremy Nicholson, Jeremy Alexander, and Sam Ewing all had four points each in the loss for the Eagles.
Rashad Crook added three points for W.S. Neal and Colby McCorvey and T.J. Davis both had one point each.
W.S. Neal was set to be back in action on Friday at home against B.C. Rain.
The Eagles will take on Northview on Monday on the road at 4 p.m. for the first of five straight road games and will take on T.R. Miller on Tuesday in Brewton at 4:30 p.m.