Blue Devils defeat Brewbaker Tech

Published 7:44 pm Thursday, February 23, 2012

Fred Knight fades away on his jump shot against Brewbaker Tech.

All season, free throws have been the Achilles heel for Escambia County. Shooting at the charity stripe has been so bad for the Blue Devils that in their last game they shot 10-for-29.

Thursday afternoon at the Mitchell Center, the No. 4 Blue Devils (26-4, 6-0) found redemption at the free throw line and it helped them earn a berth in the South Region Finals today. With the game on the line, ECHS made the most of their chances shooting 27-for-37 in a 65-59 victory over the Brewbaker Tech Rams.

The Blue Devils will now play Monroe County in the South Region Finals at 3:15 p.m. today at the Mitchell Center in Mobile.

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The improvement in free throws Thursday came from a dedication in practice, ECHS interim head basketball coach Jerome Webster said.

“We really got serious with our free throws,” he said. “We got the gym silent after practice and spent several minutes making sure we were shooting our free throws well. That dedication by these boys paid off in this game and got us a win.”

For four quarters the matchup between ECHS and Brewbaker was tight, with neither team holding a lead more than 10 points.

Escambia County opened the game on the losing end, as the Rams took an early lead in the first quarter, but the Blue Devils rebounded before the end of the period to take a 19-13 lead.

In the second quarter, the Rams found the advantage on the scoreboard hitting important shots and cut the the Blue Devils’ lead to 31-30 at halftime.

Following halftime, the teams stayed in close contention, with the lead swapping several times in the final two periods.

Despite strong runs by the Rams in the third quarter, the Blue Devils came away from the period with a lead by outscoring Brewbaker 15-12.

Leading 46-42 at the beginning of the fourth period, the game became a back-and-forth battle with both teams making runs.

Each team held the lead at points late in the game, and Brewbaker tied the game at 59 with a little more than a minute left.

A free throw by Blue Devil Darious Pettway put ECHS ahead 60-59 with less than a minute on the clock.

Following a missed shot by Brewbaker Tech, Blue Devil Derrick Williams hit two key free throws after being fouled on a lay up attempt.

Williams put the game away on the next ECHS offensive set, as he nailed a lay up and a foul shot to give his team a 65-59 win.

Aside from the importance of free points, defensive pressure was a key by the Blue Devils throughout the contest.

Coming into the match up, the Rams brought four players who averaged more than 12 points per game. The team’s leading scorer Steven

Rogers came into the game averaging 20, but the defense by ECHS held him to 11 in the contest, which forced pressure to other players.

The pressure on defense and offense gave the Blue Devils a winning combination in the game, Webster said.

“We stayed with pressure defense, and kept pushing the ball up the court on offense,” he said. “We pushed the ball to the post, which brought their defense in, and allowed us to attack the goal with our guards. Once we did that, their guys got into foul trouble.”

Leading the Blue Devils in the victory was guard Fred Knight.

Knight recorded a double-double in the contest with 20 points and a season-high 10 rebounds.

Rebounding help from the Blue Devils’ guards was another important key in the win, Knight said.

“Our smaller guys getting down and helping in the post was big,” he said. “I wanted to make sure our big guys had help down there, so I did what I could to box out their guys.”

Blue Devil center Dalvin Craft also had a double-double in the game with 11 points and 12 rebounds. He was supported in the post by forward Desmond Williams’ 12 points and seven rebounds.

Derrick Williams chipped in nine points for ECHS, while Tony McAroy had six and D’Arius Pettway had five.