Blue Devils edge Hillcrest-Evergreen 60-59 in 2 OT Tuesday
Published 3:26 pm Thursday, February 2, 2023
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Escambia County defeated then Class 3A No. 7 Hillcrest-Evergreen 60-59 in double overtime Tuesday night at Cornell Torrence Gymnasium in Atmore.
Hillcrest-Evergreen’s Jermonte Stallworth, with no time left in the second overtime, made two free throws and missed a game-tying third.
At the end of regulation, the game was tied 46-all. Both teams had a couple chances with 29 seconds left.
In the first overtime period, Hillcrest-Evergreen’s Christian Locke got the scoring going on a layup. Robert Simpson followed that with a turnaround jumper for a four-point lead.
The Blue Devils took a timeout with 1:50 left, and Stephen Williams answered with a an old-fashioned three-point play 10 seconds later.
Williams added a free throw to tie the game at 27.9 seconds at 50-all.
Stallworth had a mid-jumper to start the second overtime, and Hakeem Johnson answered for ECHS on a layup.
Johnson added two free throw shots off a technical foul for a 54-52 advantage.
Stallworth got in a free throw with 2:48 left.
ECHS went ahead 56-53 on a coast-to-coast layup by Lorenzo Arnold. Arnold added a turnaround jumper a short time later.
Hillcrest’s Simpson got a turnaround jumper, and Jamarious Barlow added a steal and layup to cut the lead to 58-57.
Arnold added a pair of free throws to make it 60-57 with 7.9 seconds left.
Escambia County led 10-9 after the first period, and 25-24 at halftime.
The back-and-forth game continued in the third period as the Blue Devils led 37-36 going into the fourth.
Williams led ECHS with 26 points. Johnson added 19 in the win. Williams added 13 rebounds and five blocks.
Tai Henderson scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds.
In girls action, the Lady Blue Devils won 32-25.
C’Anna Betts led ECHS with 13 points. Hannah Montgomery added nine.
Keona Miller scored 11 for HEHS.
The Blue Devils host Baldwin County tomorrow night for senior night.