Despite a 70-53 loss to Northview on Tuesday night, Andalusia coach Richard Robertson said his boys gave a great amount of effort against the Cougars.

The Bulldogs (3-8) trailed throughout the entire contest, and things didn’t get started their way.

Northview’s Eric Holmes hit his first of four 3-pointers within the first minute of the game to give the Cougars an early lead.

NHS led 12-6 later on in the first period, but AHS came back and pulled the game to 16-15 with 1:40 left on a Devonte Jackson 3-pointer.

Athleticism won out in the last part of the opening quarter as NHS went on a 7-0 run to lead 23-15 after the first period.

“There’s not much to say,” Robertson said about the loss. “We had a pretty good effort, but we made too many mistakes and are not trying to play outside of our capabilities.

“Size is killing us,” he said. “Experience and ball handling are too, but hey, that’s why we got practice,” he said.

The Cougars laid in a put back with about a minute left in the first half, and went on to lead 44-27 at halftime, thanks to another Holmes trey.

Northview led 50-30 with 3:34 left in the third period, but Andalusia made it a 54-36 game as Bulldogs leading-scorer Jalen Cross put in a putback going into the fourth period.

Andalusia’s best effort came in the final period of play, as Northview cycled its second and third string players, along with a few first-stringers, in and out of the game.

Jackson’s jumper decreased Northview’s lead to 62-46, and AHS went on a 11-8 run in the final minutes of the game to close it out.

Cross had 15 points for the Bulldogs.

Holmes and Pierre Harvey dished in 17 points each for NHS. Billy Ford Jr. had eight points for the Cougars.

“They’re very athletic,” Robertson said. “We’re not very athletic. I told people this last week when I talked to the media down there (in Dothan). I could go in Dothan High School and pick two to three teams with the size school they got. Same thing goes with Northview and Enterprise.”

Robertson said he’s going to utilize the players who gave him the best effort more in the future.

“That’s what I did tonight,” he said. “You can’t play without effort. The ones who give effort are the ones we’re going to go with.”

In varsity girls action, AHS fell 44-28.

Andalusia’s Tylesha Malcolm led with nine points. Shandricka Thompkins had six points.

Jasmine Hamilton led NHS with 13 points. Ashley Merritt added 11.

Andalusia’s back in action on Friday at rival Straughn.