By By Matthew Nascone
Escambia County Blue Devils head coach Jerome Antone saw something in his guys in their 57-55 victory against Citronelle Tuesday night.
"We came out with a lo of energy and played hard," Antone said. "We minimized the turnovers and we are getting better and better each game."
One of the keys to victory was the play of big man Skyler Lindsey. Lindsey only scored two points in the game, but he grabbed 18 rebounds.
"I can't say enough about Skyler," Antone said. 'He showed me some things leading up to the Citronelle game and that led to a start for him and he did well."
The Blue Devils (1-16, 0-2) never trailed in the game after they snagged an early 4-2 edge to open the game.
"We maintained our pressure and we entered the fourth quarter with a six-point lead and held on," Antone said. "It was a good win for our program and we have turned our season around."
Frank Taylor led the Blue Devils with 25 points and Kingston Craft added 19 points.
The Blue Devils were hit with a sanction after the school had to self-report an incident of academic ineligibility. This report included two basketball players who were declared ineligible for the 2006-07 season. The sanction removed those players from the team and stripped ECHS of all wins so far this season.
Antone said the Blue Devils still have a way into the playoffs, but they have to play well the rest of the season.
"We want to make a run at the postseason and we want to be in second or third place entering the area tournament," Antone said.
ECHS faced Monroe County in an area battle in Monroeville Friday night and results will be in an upcoming Advance. The Blue Devils take on area rival Thomasville Tuesday at 4:45 p.m.