By By Adam Robinson
After a dominant first quarter that saw the T.R. Miller Tigers jump out to a 13-1 lead and hold a 16-8 lead, the Escambia County Blue Devils stormed back and claimed a 62-54 win over Miller Friday night in Brewton.
It was the Tigers first game of the season as they fell to 0-1 and Escambia County improved to 5-2 with the win.
After holding the 16-8 lead in the first quarter, T.R. Miller was outscored in the three remaining quarters.
Escambia County edged out T.R. Miller 16-13 in the second quarter, but still held a 29-24 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, T.R. Miller was outscored 25-13 as Escambia County held a 49-42 lead after three quarters of play.
In the fourth quarter, Escambia County held a 13-12 advantage in the quarter and went on to win by eight points, 62-54.
Blue Devils forward Johnathan Gholsby led ECHS with 17 points, while forwards Kingston Craft and Lawrence Arnold each posted 13 points.
ECHS guards James Webster and Dontae Johnson scored six points apiece in the Atmore victory.
Corey Redfearn and Derrick Riley led T.R. Miller in the loss with 12 points apiece. Justin Payne and Terez Lane followed with eight points in the loss for the Tigers. Cortez Banks had five points along with Keenan Pride.
Joe McCorvey and Deonte Powell both had two points in the loss.
In the game Friday night, Justin Payne scored T.R. Miller’s first points of the night as he put the Tigers up 2-0 with 7:21 left in the first quarter.
Terez Lane put T.R. Miller up 3-0 as he connected for one of two free throws at the 6:42 mark.
At the 6:29 mark in the quarter, Escambia County finally put points on the board as they cut the lead to 3-1 with 6:29 left.
From there, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run to go up 13-1 with 3:36 left in the quarter.
Redfearn had three points in the run along with five from Lane who had a dunk at the 6:00 mark to go up 6-1 over the Blue Devils.
Riley added the final two points in the run for the Tigers as they held a 13-1 lead.
After the run for the Tigers, Escambia County cut the lead to 13-4, but a 3-pointer for the Tigers by Cortez Banks gave the Tigers a 16-4 lead with 2:01 left in the quarter. From there, Escambia County closed the quarter on a 4-0 run, but T.R. Miller held a 16-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Blue Devils extended their lead to 16-12 with 6:20 left before the half.
Redfearn quickly gave T.R. Miller a 23-18 lead at the 2:57 mark as he scored five straight points for T.R. Miller and Banks added a basket as the Tigers used a 6-0 run to go ahead 27-18 with 1:30 left in the half.
Escambia County closed the quarter on a 6-2 run to cut the Tiger lead to 29-24 at the half.
In the second half, Escambia County turned a five-point deficit into a seven-point advantage as they outscored T.R. Miller 25-13 in the quarter.
With T.R. Miller up 35-28 with 5:59 left in the quarter, Escambia County cu the lead to 35-34 at the 4:29 mark. The scorer stayed back-and-forth until Escambia County claimed a 45-40 lead with 1:00 left and held a 49-42 lead at the end of the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Escambia County used a 6-0 run to claim a 57-46 lead with 4:52 left in the game.
The Blue Devils held their 11-point lead with 50 seconds left in the game, until Riley cut the lead to 61-52. Escambia County went 1-for-4 at the free throw line to end the game and Pride scored a last basket for the Tigers as T.R. Miller fell by eight points, 62-54.
T.R. Miller faced Andalusia Tuesday night in Andalusia and will travel to East Brewton on Friday as they take on W.S. Neal.
Lady Tigers 50
Lady Devils 38
After suffering an early defeat at the hands of the Pensacola High School Lady Tigers, the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers picked up their first win of the young 2008-2009 season Friday night at home when they defeated the Escambia County High School Lady Blue Devils 50-38. The win made T.R. Miller 1-1 on the season.
T.R. Miller outscored the Lady Blue Devils 15-9 in the first quarter and 12-10 in the second quarter to claim an eight-point lead at the half, 27-19.
In the second half, the Lady Tigers held a 9-8 lead in the third quarter to take a 36-27 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, T.R. Miller outscored Escambia County 14-11 to claim the 12-point win, 50-38.
Kesha Peterson led T.R. Miller with 19 points in the win and was joined in double figures by Nakiya Smith in the win.
Catherine Green had six points in the win followed by four from Keydra Shedrone, two from Ashley Williams and Zykeya Barton and one from Janel McCorvey.
In the game Friday night, it was a close game the whole night except for the two times the Lady Tigers held a 12-point lead, three if you count the final score as a 12-point win.
Smith gave the Lady Tigers an early 2-0 lead when she connected for a two-pointer with 6:52 left in the first quarter.
After a Blue Devil basket tied the game at 2-2 with 6:37 left in the first quarter, Kesha Peterson put the Lady Tigers up 5-2 after connecting for a 3-pointer with 6:20 left in the first quarter.
Escambia quickly cut the lead to 5-4 and tied the game at 5-5 at the 5:22 mark.
From there, the Lady Tigers went ahead 7-5 and 9-5 and led 15-9 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Lady Tigers continued on their run from the first quarter and made it a 6-0 run as they went ahead 19-9 with 6:59 left in the half.
The Lady Tigers held a 10-point lead in the quarter until the 2:17 mark when Escambia County cut the lead to six points at 21-15.
After having their lead cut to six, Peterson and Ashley Williams connected on consecutive baskets for the Lady Tigers to put T.R. Miller up 25-15 and Peterson added her 15th point of the night with 1:15 left in the half to put T.R. Miller up 27-15.
Escambia County closed the quarter on a 4-0 run, but T.R. Miller held a 36-27 lead at the half.
In the second half, T.R. Miller opened the quarter on a 4-0 run getting points from Keydra Shedrone and Peterson to go up 31-19 with 5:50 left in the third quarter.
After going up 32-21, Escambia County cut the lead to 32-25 with 1:55 left.
T.R. Miller outscored the Lady Blue Devils 9-8 in the quarter and led 36-27 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, T.R. Miller twice built leads of 10 as they went ahead 39-29 at the 5:39 mark and 41-31 at the 4:53 mark.
Escambia County cut the Lady Tiger lead to seven twice, the latest at the 1:14 mark when they cut it to 45-38, but T.R. Miller end the game on a 5-0 run as they connected on 5-of-6 free throws to claim the win by 12, 50-38.