An up-and-down season came to an end last Thursday night for the Escambia County Lady Blue Devils when they lost to the B.C. Rain Lady Rams in overtime.

The Lady Blue Devils (10-14) battled back from an early deficit to take the Lady Rams to overtime, but were defeated 58-53 in the extra period.

Early on the Lady Devils were plagued by fouls as their leading scorer Diamond Williams received four early fouls and did not score a single point in the first half.

In the first quarter, the Lady Rams and Lady Blue Devils battled with the Lady Rams winning the quarter 10-9.

B.C. Rain continued to lead the game through the second quarter as they added to their lead by outscoring ECHS 13-9.

At halftime, the Lady Rams led the Lady Blue Devils 23-18.

Following halftime, it looked as if the Lady Rams would win easily, but the Lady Blue Devils fought back with 17 second-half points from Williams.

In the third quarter, the Lady Rams extended their lead again to seven points by outscoring the Lady Blue Devils 14-12.

The Lady Blue Devils hit their stride thanks to Williams in the fourth quarter as they went on a 17-10 run in the final eight minutes to tie B.C. Rain at 47.

In overtime, the Lady Blue Devils finally lost Williams and the team’s best ballhandler Cha’Nae Lyles to fouls. The loss proved to be costly as the final four possessions for the Lady Blue Devils resulted in turnovers.

The issues allowed the Lady Rams to outscore the Lady Blue Devils 11-6 to win 58-53.

Lady Blue Devils head coach Lorenzo Jones said his team played well despite turnovers and missed free throws.

“We are proud of the girls for battling to the end,” he said. “We had 34 turnovers and shot 15-of-33 from the free-throw line. We lost a lot of opportunities and had some fouls at the wrong time, but the girls played hard the entire game.”

The Lady Blue Devils were led by William’s 17 points all of which came in the third and fourth quarter. She also recorded five steals, four rebounds and two assists.

Jasmine Ireland added 15 points to go along with three steals, one assist and a rebound.

Cha’Nae Lyles scored eight points for ECHS and also recorded six assists, three steals and three rebounds.

Lady Blue Devil Nicole Johnson recorded six points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist, while Breanna Martin scored five points with four steals and three rebounds.

Keke Crenshaw rounded out the scoring with two points.