Escambia County Middle School’s eighth grade Eagles earned their final home victory of the season with a 31-27 win over the St. Paul’s Saints on Thursday night at ECMS.

The Eagles (8-3) led the contest from beginning to end as they never trailed against the Saints.

In the first quarter, the Eagles used their defense to build a comfortable five-point lead as they outscored the Saints 10-5.

In the second quarter, the Saints gained some momentum and outscored the Eagles 8-7, but ECMS would hold their lead as they went into halftime ahead 17-13.

Following halftime, the Eagles continued to lead, but had to hold off a late charge by the Saints in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles came out of halftime looking to extend their lead and they did just that by outscoring the Saints 9-6 in the third quarter.

St. Paul’s fought back in the fourth and final period though outscoring the Eagles 8-4 with ECMS holding off the late push to win 31-27.

Eagles head coach Robert Smith said his team played tough during the entire game.

“We played great defense and played hard throughout the game,” he said. “Strong first and third quarters really helped us.”

Eagle David Johnson led ECMS with 15 points in the win. He also recorded eight rebounds, six steals and two assists.

Gordon Brooks added five points to go along with four assists, three steals and three boards.

Jerome Webster and Anthony Myles each scored four points for the Eagles. Webster had six rebounds, six assists and five steals, while Myles had 10 rebounds, two steals and a block.

Ty McNeal rounded out the scoring with three points and posted three assists.