Atmore strong at county

Published 10:20 pm Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Atmore was well-represented this past weekend during the Escambia County Basketball Tournament at W.S. Neal High School in East Brewton.

The Blue Devils and Lady Blue Devils of Escambia County High School each went into the tournament playing competitive basketball, and they both lived up to the hype they are beginning to surround themselves with.

The Blue Devils went into the tournament with a seven-game win streak and extended it to nine games ,winning their two tournament games to win the county title.

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The boys dominated both their games, winning by large margins and proved that the other teams in the county are still a long way off from being able to compete with the team that has won four straight county championships.

On Friday, ECHS opened the tournament with a 59-29 win over the T.R. Miller Tigers and won the deciding game 71-47 over the Flomaton Hurricanes.

Coach Anthony Hayes’ team began the season 1-4, but has quickly turned things around and begun to play the type of basketball that got them to the regional tournament in Mobile last winter.

If they continue to improve and keep the wins coming, they could be in for a repeat trip to Mobile where they could be viewed as the favorites come out of that region.

The Lady Blue Devils came into the county tournament with a 8-1 record and left it with a 9-2 record splitting their two tournament games.

On the opening day, the Lady Blue Devils lost a competitive game 20-19 to T.R. Miller and then crushed W.S. Neal to finish third in the tournament.

The ECHS girls are suprising their opponents this season with how they have started and could be in a prime position to win their area.

If things continue to pick up for them then they could also be in for a trip to the region tournament.

Time will tell how both of these teams fare, but Atmore is looking good at this point of the season.

It will be exciting to see how far both teams are able to make it this season.

Chandler Myers is sports editor of the Atmore Advance. He can be reached at 368-2123 or by e-mail at sports@atmoreadvance.com.