In an intense rivalry battle, the Escambia County Blue Devils came out on top defeating the Baldwin County Tigers 66-64 in overtime on Saturday in Bay Minette.

The ECHS Blue Devils (6-5, 1-0) and Tigers battled throughout the contest ending the second, third and fourth quarters tied.

The Blue Devils opened the game with a strong first quarter outscoring the Tigers 22-12, but the Tigers bounced back in the second period to outscore the Blue Devils 20-10 to go into halftime knotted at 32.

Following halftime, the Blue Devils and Tigers continued to go point for point as they ended the third quarter deadlocked at 45.

Neither team could break the strangle hold they had on each other in the final period of regulation as they each scored 15 points and went into overtime tied at 60.

In overtime, the Blue Devils were able to grab some momentum as they scored six points to Baldwin County’s four to come away with the 66-64 win.

Blue Devils head coach Anthony Hayes said the win was a proud one for his team.

“This is a great win for our kids and our program,” he said. “It’s never an easy task winning in Bay Minette. I’d like to thank our fans for showing up and supporting our team. We just need to build off of this one and look forward to improving as we go.”

Blue Devils guard Fred Knight led ECHS with 23 points in the win.

Dalvin Craft finished with a double-double scoring 14 points and pulling down 10 boards.

Hayes said Knight is in the midst of a hot streak and added Craft’s performance was on point.

“Fred is playing really well for us and is in a rhythm right now,” he said. “Dalvin’s double-double could not have come at a better time.”

C.J. Pierce added 13 points, while Tony McAroy scored seven and DeMarcus McMillian finished with five.

T.C. Brown and Peter Myers rounded out the scoring for ECHS. Brown scored three and Myers had one point.

Blue Devils 71

Red Raiders 55

Fred Knight was the leading scorer for the Escambia County Blue Devils as they opened area play with a 71-55 victory over the B.C. Rain Red Raiders on Friday night at ECHS.

Knight finished with 19 points, one rebound and one assist in the win.

The ECHS Blue Devils (5-5, 1-0) controlled the tempo of the game from start to finish, but pulled away in the fourth quarter.

In the first quarter, the area rivals kept things close with ECHS outscoring B.C. Rain 19-17 and in the second quarter the Blue Devils again outscored the Red Raiders this time 12-11 to take a 31-28 lead into halftime.

After the break, the Blue Devils began extending their lead over the Red Raiders in the third quarter by outscoring them 16-13.

Leading 47-41 in the fourth quarter, ECHS went on a scoring spree adding 24 points to their total and allowing the Red Raiders to only score 14 to give the Blue Devils their fifth win.

Blue Devils head coach Anthony Hayes said getting a the first area win was important.

“Area games are always important to us,” he said. “We wanted to get this early win. We had four players in double figures and scoring really helped us in this game.”

Blue Devils DeMarcus McMillian and C.J. Pierce each finished the game with 15 points. McMillian also recorded five rebounds, two steals, two blocks and one assist, while Pierce had two boards and two steals.

Dalvin Craft finished with six points and seven rebounds, while Tony McAroy scored one point.