By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
Needless to say the W.S. Neal Blue Eagles have seen enough of Escambia County's Frank Taylor for this season.
Taylor scored 107 points in three games against the Blue Eagles. Forty of those came Friday when the Blue Devils rolled to a 94-50 victory at Atmore.
W.S. Neal (2-24) had actually &#8220beaten” Escambia County in two previous meetings this season after the Blue Devils were forced to forfeit 81-43 and 78-32 victories for having used an ineligible player.
Escambia County (6-19) built a 22-15 lead through one quarter and added to it in big margins the rest of the way. The Blue Devils extended the cushion to 47-28 by halftime and 68-41 through three quarters before they ended the game on a 26-9 tear in the fourth quarter.
Justin Payne led W.S. Neal with 17 points, while Jamar Travis had 13 and Bob Elliott chipped in 11.
W.S. Neal's junior varsity dropped its game against Escambia County and finished its season 4-16. No scoring details were available.
The Blue Eagles will open up Class 4A Area 2 Tournament play Friday at T.R. Miller where they will take on the host Tigers at 7 p.m.
At Escambia County
W.S. Neal 15 13 13 9 - 50
Escambia Co. 22 25 21 26 - 94
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Payne 6-0-5-17; J. Travis 4-0-5-13; Elliott 1-3-0-11; Bradley 2-0-0-4; Shell 1-0-1-3; Wilson 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 15-3-11-50)
ESCAMBIA COUNTY (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Taylor 7-7-5-40; Matthews 11-0-2-24; Craft 3-0-0-6; Riley 2-0-1-5; Marshall 2-0-1-5; Knight 1-1-0-5; Webster 2-0-0-4; Perifoy 1-0-1-3; Jefferson 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 30-8-10-94)
Quick start lifts Flomaton
Flomaton raced out to a 15-0 lead in the first four and a half minutes and later ran that lead to 21-2 en route to a 67-50 win over the host Blue Eagles Thursday.
It was the Hurricanes' third win of the season over the Blue Eagles to go along with a 58-38 win at Flomaton and a 66-54 decision at the Escambia County Tournament.
Flomaton senior Scott Walton scorched the W.S. Neal defense for 35 points. Sixteen of those points came in the opening frame when Walton drained four three-pointers and the Hurricanes opened up a big lead.
The Blue Eagles erased a large portion of that lead, as a pair of three-pointers, a traditional two-point field goal and a free throw by Jimmy Wilson helped W.S. Neal narrow that lead all the way down to 27-21 with three minutes left before halftime.
A field goal and two free throws by Walton helped Flomaton (16-8) push its lead back into double digit, this time to stay. The Hurricanes, who led 36-25 at halftime, got three-pointers by Dee Brooks and Tony Ellis early in the second half to open up a comfortable lead again of 44-27.
W.S. Neal's junior varsity posted a 39-26 win over Flomaton. The Blue Eagles were led by Trey Hunter's 14 points, while Maurice Samuel added 12.
At W.S. Neal
Flomaton 22 14 18 13 - 67
W.S. Neal 7 18 9 16 - 50
FLOMATON (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Walton 6-5-8-35; Rees 4-0-1-9; Banks 2-0-2-6; Brooks 1-1-0-5; Lewis 2-0-0-4; Edwards 0-1-0-3; Ellis 0-1-0-3; Spears 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 16-8-11-67)
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Wilson 1-3-7-18; Bradley 4-0-1-9; Mickens 1-1-2-7; Payne 3-0-1-7; J. Travis 3-0-0-6; Shell 0-1-0-3 (Totals: 12-5-11-50)
Junior varsity
Flomaton 9 5 1 11 - 26
W.S. Neal 14 6 8 11 - 39
FLOMATON (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Ross 4-0-2-10; Chavers 2-0-1-5; Johnson 1-0-2-4; Berry 0-1-0-3; Dixon 1-0-1-3; Brantley 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 8-1-7-26)
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Hunter 5-1-1-14; Samuel 3-2-0-12; Floyd 2-0-1-5; Alexander 1-0-2-4; Culliver 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 12-3-7-39)
Georgiana gets season sweep
The Georgiana Panthers completed a three-game season sweep of the Blue Eagles Tuesday with a 95-51 drubbing at Georgiana.
Georgiana had won the two previous meetings by much smaller margins, a 51-36 decision in the season opener and a 62-50 battle at the W.S. Neal Invitational.
This time the Panthers ran away from the Blue Eagles from the opening tip, as they steamrolled their way to a 26-10 lead through one quarter thanks to three three-pointers and 14 total points by Jamie Williams.
Georgiana maintained a 16-point lead of 40-24 at halftime despite a pair of field goals and three free throws in the second quarter by W.S. Neal's Jamar Travis.
It quickly got worse for the Blue Eagles in the second half, as Georgiana outscored them 25-10 in the third quarter and 30-17 in the final frame.
W.S. Neal's junior varsity outscored Georgiana 33-23 over the last three quarters, but could not climb out of a 16-0 hole it dug in the opening frame of a 39-33 loss.
Kendrick Floyd tallied 14 points to pace the Blue Eagles, while Jeremy Alexander added 13.
At Georgiana
W.S. Neal 10 14 10 17 - 51
Georgiana 26 14 25 30 - 95
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Payne 5-0-2-12; J. Travis 3-0-5-11; Mickens 2-2-0-10; Wilson 2-1-2-9; Elliott 2-0-0-4; Shell 0-0-3-3; Bradley 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 15-3-12-51)
GEORGIANA (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Williams 5-4-1-23; Paige 6-0-2-14; Matthews 5-0-0-10; Pleasant 2-1-2-9; Hall 3-1-0-9; Mitchell 4-0-0-8; Sims 4-0-0-8; Johnson 3-0-0-6; McIntosh 0-2-0-6; McMeans 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 33-8-5-95)
Junior varsity
W.S. Neal 0 12 6 15 - 33
Georgiana 16 9 9 5 - 39
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Floyd 4-1-3-14; Alexander 3-1-4-13; Sanders 2-0-0-4; McCorvey 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 10-2-7-33)
GEORGIANA (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Sylvester 2-2-0-10; McIntosh 2-1-0-7; Marshall 3-0-1-7; Crittenden 2-0-0-4; Savage 2-0-0-4; Peterson 0-1-0-3; Shows 1-0-0-2; Hamilton 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 13-4-1-39)