By By Adam Robinson
sports editor
In their second straight area game Friday night at home against the B.C. Rain Lady Red Raiders, the W.S. Neal Lady Eagles suffered another close loss as they fell 44-42.
The loss dropped the Lady Eagles to 7-7 overall and to 0-3 in area play.
W.S. Neal lost to Jackson last week at home by one-point, 30-29, to fall to 0-2 in area play.
W.S. Neal led 6-3 after the first quarter and after a 10-7 second quarter in their favor, led 16-10 at halftime.
In the third quarter, W.S. Neal fell to 16 B.C. Rain points while posting 10 of their own to head into the fourth quarter with a 26-26 tie.
In the fourth quarter, W.S. Neal was edged out by two points, 18-16 in the quarter, to lose by two points.
Both teams alternated buckets in the fourth quarter until the visiting Red Raiders grabbed a five-point lead twice in the quarter at 36-31 and 38-33 with the latest coming at the 3:30 mark left in the game.
W.S. Neal cut the lead to 38-36 with 2:02 left to play and the game was tied at 39-39 and 41-41 with the latter coming with 1:05 left to play.
After tying the game at 41-41, the Lady Eagles picked up a steal with 52 seconds left and B.C. Rain stole the ball back and took a 43-41 lead with 45 seconds to play.
A missed 3-pointer and a jumper for W.S. Neal forced the Eagles to call a timeout with the ball and Megan Andrews was then fouled with 24 seconds left.
Andrews hit the first free throw but missed the second to cut the lead to 43-42. A B.C. Rain rebound and good free throw made it a 44-42 lead with 18 seconds left in the game.
W.S. Neal then missed two free throws with 17 seconds left. A B.C. Rain rebound with 10 seconds was made along with a timeout at the 10-second mark.
Following a missed Red Raider free throw, W.S. Neal grabbed the rebound and called timeout with 8 seconds left.
After drawing up a play during the timeout, Freida Folmar’s shot with the final seconds going off the clock fell short as W.S. Neal lost by two points.
Freida Folmar led W.S. Neal with 13 points and Angelique Askew followed with 11 points in the loss.
Briana Hawthorne chipped in eight points and Keyvonnia Kyles added seven points.
Fiona Gillam had two points and Megan Andrews added one in the loss for the Lady Eagles.
The Lady Eagles shot 14-of-26 from the free throw line and B.C. Rain was 13-of-28.
In the fourth quarter, W.S. Neal was 7-of-13 and B.C. Rain was 8-of-13.
In the final minute, W.S. Neal was 1-for-5 and B.C. Rain was as well.
W.S. Neal traveled to Brewton on Tuesday to take on T.R. Miller and will be back in action on Friday in Mobile when they take on the UMS-Wright Lady Bulldogs in another area game.
W.S. Neal Lady Eagles 24, Northview 19
The W.S. Neal Lady Eagles snapped their two-game losing streak Tuesday night on the road against Northview, as they were able to pull out a 24-19 win.
The win improved the Lady Eagles to 8-7 overall.
W.S. Neal outscored Northview 9-5 in the first quarter and by one point in the second quarter, 6-5, to lead 15-10 at the halftime break.
In the second half, both teams were evenly matched as they both scored three points in the third quarter and six points in the fourth quarter to allow the Lady Eagles to pull out the five-point win.
Kyles led W.S. Neal with 10 points and Hawthorne finished with six points in the win.
Folmar added five points and Askew chipped in two points.
Tiana Smith added one point for the Lady Eagles.