By By Rob Griffin
The Escambia County High School Big Blue hosted Monroe County Tuesday night in what coach William Brown called a "must-win" game.
Despite a hard-fought battle, the Big Blue fell by a score of 66-62.
In the first quarter, Atmore struggled to find their identity. The Tigers came out firing and led 20-16 at the end of the quarter. "We just couldn't get any momentum going in the first half," said coach Brown as Monroe County took a 35-31 lead to the locker room at half-time.
ECHS did take a 43-40 lead early in the third quarter, but that lead was short-lived as the Tigers took the lead back and led 50-47 going into the fourth quarter. Escambia County didn't get much going from then on as they struggled to catch their momentum. Late in the fourth quarter, ECHS got a little spark from their offense but it was too little, too late. "We didn't play with heart," said Brown. "Our defense didn't play well." Senior Lorenzo Arnold scored 13 points and juniors Chris Andrews and Jeremiah Lewis both scored in double figures in the 66-62 loss.
ECHS 62
Monroe County 47
In girls action, the Lady Blue took on the Monroe County Lady Tigers. In one of their best performances this season, Tinekka Lett and Brittany Lee scored 16 points each to lead Atmore to a victory.
In the first quarter, Monroe County came out strong as they quickly took the lead on ECHS and claimed a 12-10 lead at the end of the quarter. In the second quarter, Escambia County turned up the heat. They outscored the Tigers 50-37 for the remaining three quarters. "I'm always happy with a win, but I wasn't pleased with our total performance," said coach Christi Nall. "For us to make it out of the area tournament next week, we need to play with more intensity and passion." Escambia County went on to win the game 62-47.