By By ZACH BROOKS
Sports Writer
The Escambia Academy Lady Cougars played in the New Years Eve Tournament last weekend at home and came in with a highly deserved second place finish.
The Lady Cougars began the tournament by playing Autuaga Academy in their first game. The Lady Cougars won the game by ten 43-33 in a game that was never close.
"We were never challenged," Escambia Academy Head Coach Chad Prewitt said. "Put I was a little disappointed that we could not put them away in the second half."
The Cougars had control of the game from the start as they took a 10-6 lead after the first quarter and never relinquished their lead.
The Lady Cougars pulled away even more after the second quarter when they took a 20-13 lead heading into half-time.
The third quarter was no different as they took a 33-22 lead after the third quarter, and felt good about thier chances in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Cougars also played well in the final quarter as they scored 10 points in the quarter to get the win 43-33.
Holly Mack lead the Lady Cougars in points with 14 on the night. Jessica Gibbs also had nine points in the victory.
Brooke Durbin lead Autuaga Academy in points with eight in the loss.
"We really pulled away in the second and third quarters," Prewitt said. "I was proud of our girls for their effort."
The Lady Cougars next game was against Coosa Valley. The Lady Cougars blasted Coosa Valley 57-28 one of the Lady Cougars highest scoring games of the year.
The Lady Cougars took a played really well in the first quarter, scoring 16 points to Coosa Valley's 0 to take a 16-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Lady Cougars started to play all of their players in the second quarter, and took a 26-5 lead heading into half-time.
The third quarter was no different for the Lady Cougars as they took a 41-17 lead into the fourth quarter.
Coosa Vally could not catch up in the final period so the Lady Cougars grabbed the win 57-28.
Bethany Hawkins lead the Lady Cougars with 12 points on the night. Megan Jackson, Holly Mack, and Jennifer Martin also followed with nine points each.
"We played a really good game tonight," Prewitt said. "I was impressed with the way we came out and shot the ball."
Kirby Johnson lead Coosa Valley in points with 21 on the night.
The Lady Cougars next game was against Faith Academy in the Championship game of the tournament. The Lady Cougars lost the game 60-41, but the game was alot closer than what the score suggests.
"I thought we played one of our best games of the year," Prewitt said. "Faith is ranked number one in the state and to play them close for three quarters speaks volumes about our team."
The Lady Cougars kept the game close in the first quarter, scoring 10 points to Faith's 13, as Faith took a three point lead into the second quarter.
The second quarter was also good to the Lady Cougars as they kept the game close, 27-21 heading into half-time.
The third quarter was also a hard-fought quarter as the Lady Cougars and Faith battled it out. Faith won the quarter, and took a slim lead 35-31 lead into a critical final quarter.
To win the game was not in the cards for the Lady Cougars, however as Faith pulled away 60-41 to win the game.
The game was still close at 37-35, with about six minutes to go, but the Cougars blew numerous chances to tie or take the lead, and Faith capitalized on their mistakes to win the game.
Jennifer Martin played one of the best games of her career against Faith, notching a game high 24 points in the loss. Megan Jackson and Jessica Gibbs followed for the Cougars with five points each.
"Jennifer really dominated down low for us tonight," Prewitt said. "Especially considering that the girls that were guarding her were 6'1 and 6'
The Cougars leading scorer Holly Mack was limited to only three points in the loss.
"I think the way they handled Holly was one of the main reasons they won," Prewitt said. "Even though, she did not score alot, she played really well in other aspects of the game."
Kelli Manning lead Faith in points with 18 in the win. Tiffany Hagler also had 16 points for Faith.