By By Matthew Nascone
The Escambia High School Blue Devils sent the Bulldogs cowering back to Clarke County Thursday night. The Devils improved to 4-2 on the season with a 72-52 victory.
"They really stepped it up and played well," ECHS head coach Jerome Antone said. "Defensively we played well and we hit 85 percent of our shots on the offensive side."
The scoring in the dominating win for ECHS was spread out among the entire team. Chris Andrews led all players with 18 points and nine rebounds. Quartez James poured in 16 points, Larry Bowens added 13 points, Calvin Hartley contributed 12 points and eight rebounds and Frank Taylor dropped in eight points.
The defensive effort was the key to the win, Antone said.
"We played tenacious defense, but we still need to improve our turnovers," he said.
The Blue Devils turned the ball over 12 times.
Antone said another reason for the dominating win was the way the Blue Devils were able to convert on transition opportunities. He said his team would steal the ball and get the easy baskets and that is why the field goal percentage for the game was so high. Antone does realize even with a win there are still facets of the game to work on.
"We played well overall, but there is always room for improvement and we need to cut down on the turnovers," Antone said.
On Nov. 29 ECHS took on Monroe County at home in Atmore. This game was not such a blowout. Taylor had to drain a three-pointer at the end of the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime.
"In regulation we didn't do anything right and we turned the ball over 18 times," Antone said. "We made the needed adjustments in overtime and the guys were where they needed to be."
James was the leading scorer against Monroe with 20 points. Andrews chipped in 14, Hartley 13 and Bowens 12.