Eagles down Rebs

Published 12:00 am Saturday, January 8, 2005

The Lowndes Academy Rebels took on Fort Dale Tuesday night as the two independent schools renewed their rivalry.

But, when everything was said and done, the Eagles proved to be too much for the Rebels to handle.

In the boys' game, the Eagles picked up a 49-27 victory, moving the LA Rebs to 2-8 the season and the Eagles to 6-7.

"We jumped out to a big lead to start the game," said Reggie Mantooth, coach of the Fort Dale Eagles.

"We got some steals and turnovers from our defense and that allowed us to be able to play everybody in the second half of the game."

In Lowndesboro, Fort Dale jumped out to an early 18-0 lead and never let up. By the end of the first half the Eagles lead had swelled to 47-15.

While the Eagles won the first half of the game, the Rebels won the second half outscoring Fort Dale 20-15. But, after a first half where the Rebels only scored seven points, the Fort Dale lead was too much to overcome.

Lowndes Academy was led in scoring by Drew Harrell with 14 points.

He was also 3-of-3 from behind the three-point line and then 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Whit Lane finished the night with 16 rebounds and Steven Cockrell contributed six points.

For the Eagles, it was the Moore brothers who were the leading scorers.

David posted 13 and Adam finished the night with 12.

"Our guys really needed a game like this," said Mantooth. "We had those three or four close games that we've lost. So we needed to not only win one, but to have one where we could get a big lead and play everyone."

When the Ladies took the court, the Eagles were once again too much of a force for a young team like the Lady Rebels, saddling the LA squad with a 41-31 loss to improve to 10-3 on the season.

Lowndes was led in scoring by senior Mallory Insigna with 16 points. Insigna’s offensive production could be seen at the free throw line where she finished the night 10-of-11.

Freshman Chelsie Kilpatrick tacked on 10 points. Defensively, Lauren Kilpatrick finished with 10 rebounds.

"I was proud of the way our girls played," said Matt Marshall, coach of the Lowndes Academy Rebels.

Michelle Sims also recorded her first minutes of the season for the Lady Rebels. The 6'2" center scored three points. In her 10 minutes on the floor. She had one basket and was fouled during the shot. But, she also went 1-of-2 from the free throw line.

Marshall was also proud of his team's free throw shooting ability. The Lady Rebels finished 19-of-22 from the charity stripe.

Frances Watts finished the night with 16 points and Laura Skipper finished with 10 points.

"Our girls played well and we were able to get out to a pretty big lead in the first half," said Mantooth. "We pressed them and were able to get some turnovers and some steals. Second half, we were able to get everybody in the game and get some experience for our girls."

Fort Dale jumped out to an early 14-2 lead in the first quarter and that swelled to 24-8 at the end of the first half. In the second half, the Eagles lost the third and fourth quarters, but that was mainly due in part to having youth on the floor against a varsity squad. The Lady Eagles lead was cut to 12, 34-22, in the third and the final of 10 in the fourth quarter. But, the Lady Eagles were able to hold on and pick up the 41-31 victory.

Fort Dale will be in action twice this weekend. Hooper Academy comes to town Friday night to challenge the Eagles and then on Saturday Fort Dale will travel to Mobile and face the Warriors of Cottage Hill.

The Rebels are in action tonight when they travel to Calvary.