By By ZACH BROOKS
Sports Writer
The Escambia Academy Cougar girls basketball team closed out their week with wins over Sparta Academy and Crenshaw Academy.
Both wins put the Lady Cougars team record to a awesome 17-4. The wins put the Lady Cougars ranked #5 in the state for divisions IA, IAA, and IAAA.
"We are ranked number five in the state, "Lady Cougars Head Coach Chad Prewitt said. "And to be ranked number five in the state while being a IA school in something very special."
The Lady Cougars defeated Sparta Academy on Tuesday night 58-41, in a game that was never close after the first quarter.
The game started out well for the Lady Cougars as they took a 12-10 lead heading into the second quarter.
But the second quarter is when the wheel fell off for Sparta. The Lady Cougars outscored Sparta 20-9 in the second quarter on their way to a 39-13 lead heading into half-time.
Sparta managed to trim the lead down by two points in the third quarter. Sparta outscored the Lady Cougars 14-12 for the quarter, and trimmed the Lady Cougars lead down to 44-33, heading into the final period.
The Lady Cougars put down in aspirations of a comeback for Sparta with a 14 point outburst in the final period. The Lady Cougars outscored Sparta 14-12 for the quarter to win the game 58-41.
"We really played sloppy in the first quarter, " Prewitt said. "But Holly stepped up for us in the second quarter and got us back on track."
" After the first quarter I felt the difference in the game was our three-point shooting, " Prewitt said. "We started making three's and they could not keep up."
Holly Mack lead the Lady Cougars in points with 28 on the night. Jennifer Martin followed with 10 points for the Cougars, and Jessica Gibbs also had seven points in the win for the Cougars.
"Another reason we won, is because we had two many weapons, " Prewitt said. "Holly, Jennifer, and Jessica really stepped up for us tonight."
The leading scorers for Sparta were Ashton Garner and Callie Ezell. Garner had 14 points while Ezell also had 11 points on the night for Sparta.
The Lady Cougars next game was against Crenshaw Academy. The Lady Cougars demoralized Crenshaw, 54-31, in a game in which the Lady Cougars never had any real trouble.
The game was never close for the Cougars, as they took a 13-4 lead after the first quarter and never looked
back.
The second quarter was no different for the Lady Cougars as they outscored Crenshaw 24-6 in the second quarter to take a 28-point lead, 38-10, into half-time.
The Lady Cougars put the game on cruise control in the third quarter as they outscored Crenshaw 11-4 for the quarter on their way to a 49-14 lead heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter was no different for Crenshaw, as the Lady Cougars held off any dream of a comeback by holding Crensaw to 15 points for the quarter, on their way to the 54-31 win.
"We had our inside post game working for us tonight, " Prewitt said. " Most of the time all we had to do was dump it in to Jennifer Martin and Bethany Hawkins and let them go to work. "
"We really pulled away in the second quarter, " Prewitt said. "The 24-point quarter really helped us on our way."
Holly Mack lead the Cougars in points with 17 on the night. Jennifer Martin followed with 15 points, and Bethany Hawkins also had 10 points on the night.
Anna Parrish also had a good night for the Lady Cougars. She had a career-high in assists with 10 on the night.
Lindsay Sport and Lindsay Cox lead Crenshaw in points with 13 and six points respectively.
The Lady Cougars next game will be against Clarke Prep on January 22nd at Clarke Prep. Gametime will be at 4:00.