By By ZACH BROOKS
Sports Writer
The Blue Devils began the week by playing Clarke County Saturday night on December 11 in Clarke County.
The Devils were plastered by Clarke County 76-53. "We could not do anything right," Escambia County Head Basketball Coach Jerry Smith said.
The Devils shot a season low 20% from the field. The Devils continued to improve their free throw shooting however, shooting 55% on 6/11 shooting.
The game started out badly for the Devils as they were outscored 23-13 in the first quarter and could never catch up.
Clarke County pulled even more ahead with a 18 point second quarter that put them up 41-24 heading into half-time.
The second half began much like the first, with Clarke County coming out of the locker rooms on fire, by scoring 20 points by quarter's end to go up 61-35.
The game was already decided when the fourth quarter began, but the Devils did not give up and gained some ground with a 18 point fourth quarter. But it was not enough and Clarke County clinched the victory 76-53.
Barrett Finney lead the Devils in points with 10. Kenneth Clarke followed with nine points. Layton Knight and Steven Moore also had eight points in t he loss.
Steven Moore lead the Devils in rebounds with nine. Finney also had seven rebounds for the Devils.
Jason Love and John Calhoun lead Clarke County in points with 18 and 13 points respectively.
The Devils next game was against the Cintronelle Wildcats on December 7th in Cintronelle.
The Devils lost a nail-biter to the Wildcats 60-59 on Friday night. "It was a tight game," Coach Smith said. "We got behind early, but got back in the game and if we could have made some shots down the stretch we would have won."
The game was close from the start, as both teams came out playing tenacious defense and making tough shots. The Wildcats did both a little better in the first quarter as they took a 16-12 leading into the second quarter.
The second quarter was also close, as the Devils gained ground to shave the Wildcats lead to 29-27 going into half-time.
Cintronelle came out of the locker room in the third quarter on fire as they scored 20 in the quarter to gain their lead back and then some to go up 47-36 heading into the final quarter.
The final quarter was one for the ages for the Blue Devils. They came out for the fourth quarter with a determined purpose and almost came up with a victory.
The Devils outscored the Wildcats 21-13 for the quarter, but came up short in points, as the Wildcats escaped with a 60-59 victory.
Barrett Finney played an awesome game for the Blue Devils. He scored 21 points and also had eight rebounds. James Wilson followed for the Devils with 12 points. Steven Moore also had nine points in the loss.
Katral Johnson lead the Blue Devils in rebounds with 11. It was his first double-digit rebounding game for the Devils.
Alton Williams and Allen Marks lead the Wildcats in points with 19 and 14 points respectively.
The Devils last game of the week was at home against the Baldwin County High Schools Tigers on Saturday night.
The Devils seemed tired and worn-down from Friday's game with the Citronelle Wildcats and could not get on track from the start.
The Devils shot horribly from the field, shooting just 25% from the field. The Devils free throw shooting continued to improve however, as they shot 60% from the line, on 9/15 shooting.
BCHS started on their way to victory early, by outscoring the Devils early on their way to a 16-9 lead at quarters end.
The Devils got back into the game in the second quarter, as they scored 16 points in the quarter, to only be down 31-25 going into half-time.
The third quarter was a defensive struggle for both teams. Both teams combined for just 13 points for the entire quarter, with the Devils scoring six and the Tigers scoring seven.
The Tigers won the game in the fourth quarter, as they scored 14 points to the Devils eight on their way to the 56-39 victory.
Barrett Finney lead the Devils in points once again with 12. Layton Knight followed with 10 points. Jeremy McCants and Steven Moore also had seven points apiece in the loss.
Ryan Naves and Patrick Faulkner lead the Tigers in points with 14 and 12 points respectively.
The Devils next game will be on Tuesday night at home against the Northview Chiefs. The game will be for varsity girls and boys only and will start at 6:00.