By By ROBERT BLANKENSHIP
Advance Managing Editor
The Escambia Academy Cougars have hit a roadblock as they dropped their fourth game in a row with the latest being a 68-59 defeat to area opponent Sparta Academy.
With the loss, the Cougars are 2-2 in their area which is good enough for a tie with Crenshaw Academy at second place in the area standings behind South Montgomery Academy. EA traveled to Crenshaw Academy on Friday and they will play SMA this week. These games will determine who will get home-court advantage during the area tournament in February.
The Cougars were in good shape during the early minutes of the game against Sparta, but slowly they began to lose the small battles that ended up costing them the game.
EA actually held a one-point advantage after one period, 17-16, and they were only down by two points at halftime, 31-29.
The game remained close through the third period as Sparta held a three-point advantage going into the final period, 47-44. But, Sparta began to pull away from the Cougars in the final period as they outscored the Cougars 21-15 in the final period.
Prewett said several aspects of the Cougars typical game-time strategy is missing right now. The first being a lack of defensive pressure.
The Cougars are also hoping that their shooting returns to early-season form over the next week. The Cougars have relied heavily on a potent outside-shooting attack, but during the four-game losing streak, it has been almost non-existent.
Leading scorers against Sparta was Beasley with 21 points and Daniel Alaniz ended the game with nine points.
The loss gives the Cougars their first losing record of the season, 10-11.
Prewett said it is an important part of the schedule coming up for the Cougars.
The Cougars traveled to Crenshaw on Friday night and they will host SMA in their final area competition of the regular season on Friday, Feb. 26.