By JOSH FRYE
News Sports Writer
The Escambia County High School boys basketball team captured the AHSAA 4A Area 1 Championship on Saturday, February 9, by defeating number-two ranked Williamson High School, 74-70.
This is the first area title for the Blue Devils since the 2014-2015 season.
Coach Rodney Jackson and the Blue Devils set a goal at the beginning of the season. Now part of that goal has been accomplished.
The next goal on their list is a state championship, which is within their grasp.
The Williamson game was a wild, back and forth contest that saw both schools in their highs and lows.
Being an underdog isn’t an easy feat to overcome, but the Blue Devil players refused to back off and found a way to come out on top.
The big story for ECHS has been the play of senior Lue Williams, who has had an incredible season and outstanding career as a Blue Devil.
With the win over Williamson in the books, Williams has recorded over 1,240 career points with the Blue Devils and that number continues to climb.
Williams registered 27 points on 12 of 15 shots and tallied 10 rebounds for an during the 4A Area 1 Championship against Williamson, arguably one of his best games to date as a Blue Devil.
“I just want to help my team accomplish something that has not been done in a long time,” Williams said a few weeks ago during an interview.
Malik Brown also had an outstanding performance during the matchup. Brown registered 14 points, and Allen Patterson also had an outstanding game, chipping in 11 points in their championship win.
Jacob Hatch of Williamson went head-to-head with Williams, scoring 21 points.
The Blue Devils closed out the game with an overall season record of 19-6, one of the best for the school in almost 10 years.
But the season isn’t over yet.
ECHS will be back in action to host Clarke County for the 4A Sub-Region Playoff on Tuesday, February 12 at 7 p.m.
The winner of the Sub-Regional playoff game will travel to Montgomery for its chance at a state title.
The ECHS girls fell out early with a 53-24 loss against Williamson in the first round of the regional tournament to end their season.
Stats from the game had not been provided by head coach Layton Knight by Tuesday’s press deadline.