By By Zach Brooks
Sports Writer
The Escambia County High School Lady Blue Devils started their season off in the worst way, by losing five straight games. But now, thanks to improved defense and shooting, the Lady Devils are on a five game winning streak and playing their best ball of the year.
The biggest win of the Lady Devils streak was a 51-40 clobbering of the Baldwin County Tigers.
"This win was very special for our team," Coach Theodore White said. "Bay Minette is a 6A school, and to beat them was a major momentum builder."
Both Blue Devil varsity teams started playing in the County Tournament on Thursday night in Flomaton.
Their our four teams in the tournament; T.R. Miller, W.S. Neal, Flomaton, and the Blue Devils.
The Lady Devils played Flomaton Thursday night, W.S. Neal Friday night, and T.R. Miller on Saturday night.
The Lady Devils started the tournament off right with a 51-47 win over Flomaton Thursday night.
"We played together as a team," Coach White said. "I was impressed with the way our bench played."
The Lady Devils had control of the game from the start, with a 17 point first quarter, that resulted in a 17-12 first quarter lead.
The second quarter was no different, as the Lady Devils added three points to their lead, to go into half-time with a 30-22 lead.
The Lady Devils came out of half-time shooting cold. The Lady Devils could only manage eight points for the quarter, but were still leading 38-34 at quarters end.
The final period was by far, the most exciting period of the game. Both teams shot well in the final period, as both teams traded baskets down the stretch. The Lady Devils hung on to win the game, 51-47.
"We played really well in the fourth quarter," Coach White said. "We made the big shots when we had too, and also did not allow them to make any easy shots down the stretch."
Hannah Rigsby had a magnificent shooting night for the Lady Devils, scoring 20 points from all over the floor.
Marquita Jones also had a big night for the Lady Devils as she scored 16 points and had six rebounds.
"I thought Hannah and Marquita played really well for us tonight," Coach White said. "They both made tough shots when we needed them and gave us the chance to win."
Janet Wilson and Shantele Parker lead the Lady Devils in rebounds with eight and seven rebounds, respectively.
The Lady Devils Devils next game was against W.S. Neal on Friday night. The Lady Devils won convincingly 45-37.
The game started out sloppy for both teams, as neither team could get anything going on offense. The Lady Devils played well enough though, to take a 11-8 lead into the second quarter.
The second quarter was a defensive struggle for both teams, as both teams could not get anything going on offense. The Devils only scored nine points in the quarter to W.S. Neal's eight however, to take a 20-16 lead into half-time.
The third quarter was almost identical to the second quarter, as neither team could get anything going. W.S. Neal took the upper hand in scoring for the quarter however, scoring 10 points to the Lady Devils nine to trim up the Lady Devils lead to 29-26.
The Lady Devils finally got out of their scoring drought in the fourth quarter by scoring 15 points to W. S. Neal's 11. The offensive outburst gave the Devils the 45-37 victory, and a 2-0 tournament record heading into Saturday nights game against T.R Miller.
Marquita Jones played a huge part in the fourth quarter, scoring eight crucial points in the last period.
Jones led the team in points with 16. She also just missed her first double double of the season with nine rebounds.
Janet Wilson followed with nine points and ten rebounds. Daphane Craft also had seven points in the win.
Syrenthia Benjamin was the games leading scorer. She scored 21 points for W.S. Neal in the loss. Ashley Bailey followed with eight points.