By By ZACH BROOKS
Sports Writer
Both Escambia Cougar basketball teams started the week off against Faith Academy Tuesday night at Faith.
The Lady Cougars were beaten 66-48. The boys game was a lot closer as they only lost 54-46.
The Lady Cougars came into Faith trying to improve their 5-2 record and avenge last month's 58-49 loss to Faith at home.
The Cougars came into their game against Faith trying to improve this years record of 4-2 and to avenge their shellacking by Faith, 65-51, last month.
The game did not start well for the Lady Cougars as they came out shooting cold, and by the time the Lady Cougars could get on track, Faith had already accumulated a 19-13 lead after the first quarter.
The second quarter was different for the Lady Cougars, as they shot outstanding, to lower the Faith lead to 31-27 going into half-time.
The second half started out terrible for the Lady Cougars, as once again they could not find their shot and fell behind to stay 51-32.
The fourth quarter was no different both teams shot decent, but it was not enough because the Lady Cougars lost by the final score of 66-48.
The leading scorer for the Lady Cougars was Holly Mack with 15 points. Her 15 points were below her season average of 17 points per game. Jennifer Martin followed with 10 points in the loss.
The leading scorers for Faith were Kelli Manning with 25 points and Nicole Thomas with 14 points.
The Cougars game was a lot closer. The Cougars came out of locker room sluggish, scoring just 9 points for the first quarter, but were only down 11-9 as the quarter ended.
The second quarter began much like the first, as the defense from both sides was very good only allowing 35 points for both teams in the quarter. Therefore, Faith took a 25-20 lead into half-time.
The second half was much more exciting, as both teams combined for 45 points. The Cougars could not gain any ground though as they fell 54-46.
The leading scorer for the Cougars was Justin Shirley with 20 points. Shirley was the leading scorer for the game on both sides. Bradford Price followed for the Cougars in the loss.
Trey Strickland and Aaron Godwin lead Faith in points with 20 and 14 points, respectively.
Both teams played Jay next on Thursday night at Jay.
Both teams were shocked with losses. The Lady Cougars lost 47-33, while the Cougars were murdered 82-47.
The Cougars game was a lot closer than it looked. Because the Cougars were only down by 20 points in the fourth quarter when both coaches started to the subs in.
The boys game against Jay started off slow as neither team could score and Jay took a 13-8 lead into the second quarter.
Then the explosion began. Jay scored 23 points in the second quarter to the Cougars 14 to take a 38-22 lead into half-time.
The third quarter was no better for the Cougars as Jay scored 21 points to the Cougars 16 to take a 61-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
Jay was not content with the lead though and kept pouring the points on, scoring 22 points in the last quarter to the Cougars nine. The second half outburst helped Jay to the 82-47 romp.
Jay shut down the Cougars leading scorer Justin Shirley. Shirley was held to only 13 points, well below his season average of 28 points per game. David Daniel also pitched in 10 points in the loss.
The leading scorers for Jay were Jared Floyd with 21 points and Jeremy Reeder with 12 points.
The Lady Cougars loss was a lot more closer. The Lady Cougars made too many mistakes to win. The Lady Cougars missed 12 free throws, shooting only 45% from the foul line. The Lady Cougars also missed 11 open lay-ups for easy points.
The Lady Cougars never had the lead in the game. The first quarter started off slow as both teams shot poorly. The poor shooting lead to Jay's 15-8 lead after the first quarter.
The second quarter was no different as both teams still could not get on track.. The Lady Cougars outscored Jay for the quarter 8-5 but were still trailing 20-16 going into half-time.
The second half was no different as both teams only combined for 43 points. The Cougars were outscored for the half 27-17 on their way to the 47-33 loss.
The leading scorers for the Cougars were Holly Mack and Jennifer Martin with 15 and 10 points apiece.
The leading scorers for Jay were Kim Nelson and Megan Patrick with 17 and 11 points apiece.
The boys and girls next game will be against Clarke Prep on December 10. The game will be for junior varsity and varsity boys and girls and game time will start at 4:00.