The Escambia Academy boys’ basketball team beat Central Christian School 76-69 Tuesday night to improve to 13-2 on the season.

The Cougars shot poorly in the first half, but led 30-22 at the half.

EA went on a 13-6 run in the third quarter to take a 12-point lead with 5:48 left before Brett Helton hit four three-pointers in a row.

“(In the first half) we weren’t really lining up where we could get easy shots,” said coach Kevin Woods. “Brett got really hot and played well.”
Helton finished the game with 28 points, six rebounds, one assist and one block in the win against the Saints.

Jordan Sasser finished as the team’s second leading scorer with 21 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Garrett Kirk finished with a double-double for the Cougars with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Blake Quimby finished with seven points and three rebounds while Tehron Stallworth finished with six points and eight rebounds.

The Cougars played their second area game Friday when they traveled to Morgan Academy, but results weren’t available as of press time.

The Cougars host the following two area games with Fort Dale Academy traveling to Canoe for a 4 p.m. game Tuesday, Jan. 15 and Morgan Academy coming to town on Friday, Jan. 18.

Woods said these games would mean a lot come playoff time.

“Our goal is to win the area and get a bye in the tournament,” he said. “We play all of our area games in the next three weeks.”