By By Adam Robinson
sports editor
After finishing off a tough area schedule with no wins, the W.S. Neal varsity Eagle basketball team found a way to win Tuesday night at home against J.U. Blacksher as they pulled out a 50-46 win.
The win for the Eagles ended a three-game losing streak to improve to 13-10 overall this season.
W.S. Neal led 14-12 after the first quarter of play and extended their lead to 24-22 at halftime as both teams scored 10 points each in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, W.S. Neal was outscored by one point, 13-12, to lead 36-35 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, J.U. Blacksher went on a 5-0 run to hold a 40-36 lead with 4:10 left in the game and later led 43-38 with 3:13 left in the game.
From that point, the Eagles went on a 9-0 run to hold a 47-43 lead with 1:21 left and was able to hang on for the win by four points.
Phillips said the win was a vital win for his team heading into this week’s area tournament games in Mobile at UMS-Wright.
W.S. Neal shot 7-of-17 from the free throw line, but made three of their last four shots. J.U. Blacksher was 8-for-26 from the line.
Bob Elliott led the Eagles in the win with 12 points and Sam Ewing followed with 10 points.
Jeremy Nicholson and Ashton Elliott chipped in eight points each.
Colby McCorvey and T.J. Davis both had four points.
Jeremy Alexander and Tra Dixon both had two points for W.S. Neal.
W.S. Neal was set to take on Flomaton at home Friday night before traveling to Pleasant Home on Monday at 4:30 p.m. to end their regular season schedule.
Both the W.S. Neal Eagles and Lady Eagles will play in the area tournament as the No. 4 seed. They will take on No. 1 seed UMS-Wright in tournament action.
The girls will play  Thursday while the boys will play Friday. Game times will be 7 p.m. for both the Eagles and the Lady Eagles.