By By Chandler Myers
Escambia County’s Blue Devils defeated the Northview Chiefs for the second and final time this season 67-43 at ECHS.
The Blue Devils (8-9, 0-2) started the game slow with five new players starting the game.
After falling behind 8-0 in the first few minutes of the game, head coach Anthony Hayes put in his normal starting rotation and the Blue Devils slowly crawled back into the game.
The Blue Devils went on a 14-9 run to end the first quarter and the Chiefs took a 17-14 lead into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Blue Devils continued their scoring onslaught with help from junior forward Kingston Craft.
At halftime, the Blue Devils took a 30-23 lead into the locker room.
Craft led the Blue Devils with 19 points and shot two-of-seven from the free throw line in the win.
Blue Devils head coach Anthony Hayes said he wanted to start different people to get some of his other players extra playing time.
After the half, the Blue Devils continued to pull away from the Chiefs and scored 18 points and only allowed 10.
In the final period, the Blue Devils scored a game high 19 points and held the Chiefs to another 10-point quarter to end the game 67-43.
Hayes said he was proud of the strides his team made to come back and get a big victory.
Blue Devils junior Eric Davis scored 13 points and had a perfect night from the free throw line hitting four-of-four shots.
Seniors Charles Crook, Nik Radojicic and James Webster each scored seven points for the Blue Devils in the win. Webster hit one-of-two free throws in the game.
Senior Nate Davis scored six points for ECHS.
Seniors Lawrence Arnold, Johnathan Gholsby and Myles Everett all scored two points each. Freshman Quentin Craft added two points.
The Blue Devils next game is Friday against Gulf Shores at ECHS. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m.
Gulf Shores 62
ECHS 57
The Blue Devils of Atmore dropped their second area game 62-57 to the Gulf Shores Dolphins last Friday in Gulf Shores.
The Blue Devils (7-9, 0-2) dropped the game after a back-and-forth battle between the two schools.
In the first quarter, the Blue Devils and Dolphins scored repeatedly together and at the end of the quarter the Dolphins led 19-16.
Following the first, the Blue Devils found a little life and pulled ahead of the Dolphins 28-26 before the Dolphins took the lead into halftime 34-30.
Junior Kingston Craft and senior James Webster scored 12 points apiece in the loss. Craft hit three-of-nine on the night from the charity stripe, while Webster fared much better hitting five-of-seven.
Blue Devils head coach Anthony Hayes said it was a good game for both teams.
In the third quarter, the Dolphins kept their lead and outscored the Blue Devils 15-12 to set the tone for the fourth.
The final period of play saw the Blue Devils outscore Gulf Shores 15-13, but it was too little too late for ECHS as the final buzzer sounded.
Hayes said the team started putting in better shots as time winded down.
Senior Johnathan Gholsby scored nine points in the loss and hit 50 percent of his free throws.
Junior Eric Davis scored seven points for the Blue Devils, while senior Nate Davis scored six points. Neither player hit any of their three combined free throws.
Senior Lawrence Arnold added five points and hit three-of-four free throws in the game.
Senior Dontae Johnson scored four points, while senior Charles Crook scored two points for ECHS.