By By Matthew Nascone
When the Escambia Academy Cougars arrived in Jackson for their game against Jackson Academy Andrew Lambeth was not thinking about breaking the school scoring record, but when the Cougars left Jackson, Lambeth knew he was only two points from that record.
Lambeth scored 45 points, one shy of the school record of 46 points in a single game, and the Cougars (9-9, 1-2) won, 80-53 in what head coach Kevin Woods called a "great win."
"He (Lambeth) had around 30 points at the half, so I left him in there to see if he could get the record, but he just hit a cold streak in the second half," Woods said. "But he was on fire in the first half. And we just played really well. We pressed them and we were able to pick up some easy baskets. I was able to play everyone but one guy and they all scored but one."
The main factor in the game was that it was an area contest and the Cougars had slipped into an early 0-2 area hole before the game.
"It was a good area win for us because we hope to make the playoffs and we have to play well in our area to do that," Woods said. "And we are on the way to making the playoffs. If we can keep on correcting our mistakes we will be all right."
Cody Norton added 13 points, Tyler Brown contributed eight points, Alan Ash scored five points, Tyler Harrison, Kevin Maher, Blake Kirk and Ethan Brooks each scored two points and Joe Drew added one point.
The Cougars hosted Wilcox Academy Friday and the results will be in an upcoming Advance. The team's next game is tomorrow at home against Jackson again. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
JV Cougars 21 – Jackson 13
The JV Cougars were also able to come away victorious Tuesday, defeating Jackson 21-13 for their 10th win of the season. Woods said the JV Cougars were able to cut down on their mistakes and crash the boards hard.
"It was pretty much the same deal as the varsity game and we were able to get everyone a lot of minutes," Woods said. "And a lot of our guys who normally don't play were able to play most of the second half."
Austin Lee scored 11 points, Jon Dean had eight points and Michael "Tank" Mitchell added two points.
The JV team was also invited to the JV State Tournament at Wilcox Academy. The tournament was yesterday and it was the first time in at least five years the boys have been invited to participate. The results of the tournament will be in an upcoming Advance.