By By ZACH BROOKS
Sports Writer
The Escambia County Blue Devils concluded the County Tournament last Saturday night in Flomaton with a 55-52 heart-breaking loss to the T.R. Miller Tigers.
The loss by the Blue Devils created a three-way tie for first place between the Blue Devils, T.R. Miller, and Flomaton. W.S. Neal was the only other team in the Tournament and they did not win a game.
The tournament did not have a tie-breaker game so each team claimed a piece of the County Tournament title.
The three-way tie was made possible because each team lost a game to one another: Flomaton won against T.R. Miller, ECHS won against Flomaton, and T.R. Miller won against ECHS.
The Blue Devils had extra motivation against the Tigers besides playing for the tournament championship. The Tigers whipped the Devils the last time they played on November 27 and the Devils were looking to even the score.
The game started well for the Blue Devils as they stormed out of the locker rooms and took a 13-7 lead heading into the second quarter.
The second quarter was well-played by both teams as both teams scored thirteen points for the quarter. Due to the even scoring in the quarter the Devils could not build on their lead and took a six-point lead, 26-20, into half-time.
Both teams came out of the half on fire. The Tigers were the high scorer for the quarter with 18 points, while the Devils managed 14 points for the quarter.
The Blue Devils managed to hold on to their lead however, and took a 40-38 lead into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter was to be the Devils downfall, as they could not stop T.R. Miller's explosive offense. T.R. Miller scored 17 points in the quarter while the Devils could only muster 12 points.
The Devils still had a chance to win the game in the last few minutes, but it was not in the cards tonight for the Devils, as they fell 55-52.
One of the reasons the Devils lost was their dismal shooting from the field. The Devils shot a mediocre 38 percent from the field on 20/54 shooting.
The Devils were fantastic from the free-throw line however, as they shot a blazing 91 percent on 11/12 shooting.
Barrett Finney lead the Devils,with a near double double, with 24 points and nine rebounds. Steve Moore followed with 10 points and 11 rebounds. This was Steven's first double double of the year. Jeremy McCants also had seven points in the loss.
Ryheem Drakeford and Dennis Johnson lead the Tigers with 26 and 16 points respectively.
The Blue Devils next games will be in the Freeport Tournament in San Destin.
The Blue Devils will be one of sixteen teams vying for the tournament crown: Freeport, Florala, Rocky Bayou, Bayside, Laurel Hill, Salmen, Vernon, Hazard, Holmes County, Calvary Christian, Oliver Springs, Ponce de Leon, Grand Ridge, Trinity Presbyterian, and Tallahassee Maclay.
The tournament is double elimination, which means each team will have to lose two times to be eliminated from the tournament.
The games start on Dec. 19 and will go to Dec. 22.