The winning continues for the Escambia County Blue Devils who improved to 23-7 last Friday night by defeating the Jackson Aggies in the sub-region of the AHSAA playoffs.

The No. 7 Blue Devils proved they have a talented group of players by soundly beating the Aggies 71-52 at Escambia County High School.

The Blue Devils never trailed in the match up against Jackson and pulled away with a dominating third quarter.

In the first quarter, ECHS found more opportunities than their visitors and pulled out to a 17-11 lead.

Escambia County held strong to their lead in the second quarter as Jackson would not allow them to extend it before halftime as both teams scored 16 points.

At halftime, the Blue Devils led the Aggies 33-27.

Following halftime, the Blue Devils put together their best quarter and used it to build an advantage on Jackson.

In the third quarter, the Blue Devils played intense defense and pushed their lead to 18 points as they outscored the Aggies 18-7.

The Blue Devils put on cruise control in the fourth and final quarter of play as they continued to play at a high level and outscored the Aggies 20-19 to pick up the 71-52 win.

Blue Devils head coach Anthony Hayes said his players executed the game plan exactly how they were supposed to.

“This was a really emotional win for our program,” he said. “We prepared well over the course of the week and the players came out and executed our plan beautifully. We knew Jackson was athletic and wanted to run, so we prepared for that type of game.”

Hayes also thanked his administration and fans for the support they have shown his team.

“We’d like to thank our adminstration, athletic program, scool and commuity for showing up and supporting these 12 young men,” he said.

The Blue Devils were led in the victory by seniors Cedric Pierce and T.C. Brown.

Pierce led all scorers with 28 points in the win and hit six three-point shots, while Brown finished with 18 points.

Blue Devil junior forward Dalvin Craft added 11 points for ECHS and Fred Knight scored nine.

The ECHS scoring was rounded out by Demarcus McMillian (3 points) and Tony McAroy (2 points).

The Blue Devils will now face the No. 2-ranked Andalusia Bulldogs at the Mitchell Center at the University of South Alabama in Mobile.

Hayes said his team will continue to prepare for another tough game.

“We now play Andalusia who is ranked No. 2,” he said. “It doesn’t get easier from this point on, but we are going to prepare the guys and go to Mobile looking to make everyone proud.”

The Blue Devils and the Bulldogs tip off at 1:30 p.m. in Mobile.