By By Matthew Nascone
The Escambia Academy Cougars may not have beaten Cottage Hill Christian Academy Monday night, but EA head coach Kevin Woods said the game was a lot better than the team's first game of the season against Faith Academy.
"We played a lot better and we did not turn the ball over as much," Woods said. "The effort from the guys was great, unlike the Faith game. I was pleased with how they ran the offense against Cottage Hill."
The Cougars (0-2) lost 68-32 and Tyler Harrison led the way with 12 points. James White added 9 points, Tank Mitchell had 6 points, Blake Kirk had 4 points and Greg McGhee contributed 1 point.
Woods said it is always hard to face two of the top teams in AISA in the first two games, but his team will be better because of that fact.
"We have played two of the top teams in the last couple days, but we are improving and that is the good thing," he said. "We were able to get into our offense against Cottage Hill and everyone made an effort to play team ball. Cottage Hill is one of the best man-to-man defenses and best coached teams out there and we hung with them for a ways."
Woods said the Cougars hung with Cottage Hill until the second quarter, then they broke away.
"They went on a run and we couldn't score anything and they got way ahead," Woods said.
Cottage Hill took a 36-17 lead to the locker room for halftime and never looked back.
"We cut (the lead) down a few times, but they just kept pushing for the big lead," Woods said. "But I was really proud of how hard everyone played and the effort was great."
The Cougars took on Fort Dale at home Tuesday and the results will be in an upcoming Advance. Next up for the team is Crenshaw Christian Academy at home Nov. 30. Tip off is set for 4 p.m. for the JV girls' game.