By By Chandler Myers
Escambia Academy’s Lady Cougars saw their season come to an end in the first-round of their AISA regional tournament at Marion Military Institute on Wednesday.
The Lady Cougars (7-14) lost an early lead and suffered a 48-43 loss to the Pickens Academy Lady Pirates.
In the first quarter, the Lady Cougars and Lady Pirates battled back-and-forth with the teams ending the quarter knotted in a 10-10 tie.
EA took over in the second quarter and almost doubled their first quarter performance with 19 points, while only allowing the Lady Pirates to chip in 10. As the teams entered the locker rooms, the Lady Cougars led 29-20.
Lady Cougars head coach Heath Gibson said his team played great in the first two quarters.
After halftime, things started going cold for the Lady Cougars as they chalked up some mistakes and allowed the Lady Pirates to creep back into the game.
In the third quarter, shots stopped falling for EA as they only scored eight points, but gave up 14 points to Pickens.
Pickens continued its second half run in the fourth quarter as they added 14 more points to the scoreboard, while the Lady Cougars could only chip in six points and ended their dreams of a state championship.
Gibson said the second half was a complete turnaround of what happened in the first.
Lady Cougars sophomore guard KayLeigh Miller controlled the floor by scoring 14 points in the loss. She also snagged six steals, pulled down three boards and passed out two assists.
Sophomore Taylor Helton and senior Alaina Arnold scored eight points apiece for the Lady Cougars. Helton also posted 12 rebounds and two assists. Arnold recorded one rebound, one assist and one steal.
Sophomore Amber Huskey scored four points, while pulling down six rebounds, blocking two shots, grabbing a steal and serving out an assist.
Lady Cougars senior guard Malori McGhee added four points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal in the loss.
Senior Andrea Nall chipped in two points and a rebound for EA.