The Evergreen Courant's Sports Flashback for Dec. 17, 2018

SEVEN YEARS AGO

DEC. 15, 2011

Jags maul Miller by nine points: Hillcrest High School’s varsity boys basketball team improved to 4-6 on the season last week after splitting a pair of games against T.R. Miller and J.F. Shields.

Hillcrest picked up its fourth win of the season Monday of last week by beating Miller, 67-58, in Evergreen.

On Saturday night, the Jaguars traveled to Beatrice, where they suffered a close, 57-55 loss at the hands of the J.F. Shields Panthers.

Lady Warriors improve to 8-2: Sparta Academy’s varsity girls basketball team, ranked No. 5 in the AISA, improved its record to 8-2 overall during the past week by posting big wins against Escambia Academy, Monroe Academy and Crenshaw Christian.

In the opening round of the Wilcox Academy Pepsi Invitational Tournament Friday in Camden, the Lady Warriors blasted Escambia Academy, 66-46. On Tuesday of last week, Sparta whipped Monroe Academy, 65-29, in Monroeville. The win came a day after the Lady Warriors crushed Crenshaw Christian, 50-39, in Evergreen.

(Top Sparta players in those games included Kayla Baggett, Jessica Coleman, Emily Deason, Alex Etheridge, Drew Ann Lambert, Stephanie Martin, Tiffany Martin, Grace Matlock, April Palmer, Rachel Riley, Michaela Stabler, Rachel Stacey and Reagan Wild.)

32 YEARS AGO

DEC. 18, 1986

Escambia teams sweep Sparta: The Escambia Academy basketball teams swept three games from Sparta Academy in games played Dec. 9 in Evergreen.

The Cougar varsity boys beat the Warriors, 79-66. Sparta had four players in double digits: Brad Watts, 18 points; Jason West, 18; Lynn Ralls, 16; and Johnny Brock, 10. Jeff Walker added five.

Sparta’s girls lost to Escambia, 56-44, in spite of a 25-point performance by Kim Searcy. Shawn Hammonds had eight points; Julie Johnson, six; Lee McNeil, four; and Baby Girl Floyd, one.

The Escambia junior varsity beat Sparta, 42-24, according to Sparta Sports Information Director Byron Warren Jr. Steven Gall had eight points; Jason Williams and Craig Blackburn, six each; and Jeff Brundage and Neal Sanford, two each.

Warren Bolton and son, John, and son-in-law, Butch Adams, not pictured as he was taking the picture, didn’t fill the truck with quail on a recent hunting trip, but did manage to cover the tailgate with 27 birds. (Editor’s note: Cricket and BB deserve most of the credit as they did most of the work.)

Christmas Basketball Festival: There will be a Christmas Basketball Festival Dec. 26 at 6 p.m. at the Evergreen High School gym. Featured games will be the Andalusia All-Stars vs. Evergreen All-Stars, Police Dept. vs. Class of 1970, and Evergreen Aggies vs. Big Surprise. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for students.

56 YEARS AGO

DEC. 20, 1962

Tall Atmore Trips Aggie Cagers, 62-37: The Evergreen Aggies suffered their first basketball loss of the season Friday night at the hands of the taller Atmore Blue Devils. The visitors won the game on their phenomenally hot shooting and tremendous rebounding superiority, especially off their offensive board.

James Hall pumped in 20 points and Ronnie Horne 12 to pace the Atmore win. Ronnie Jackson led the Aggies with 11 markers.

Atmore also won the B contest by a 33-30 count. Atmore’s James Gunn and Evergreen’s Mike Fields shared high point honors with eight apiece.

Monroe Quintets Meet In Finals Of Local Tourney: Two Monroe County high schools meet tonight in the finals of the first annual Evergreen Holiday basketball tournament. Frisco City and Blacksher High of Uriah are finalists.

Frisco City advanced into the finals after edging Greenville, 52-49, in a semi-finals match Tuesday night. Frisco had drawn a first-round bye while Greenville advanced with a win over W.S. Neal of East Brewton.

In the nightcap, Uriah eked out a 41-40 decision over the host Evergreen High Aggies in a real thriller. Uriah had pulled out to a 25-16 lead at halftime, but the shorter, battling Aggies came back to almost pull an upset in the final two periods.

Hunting Accident Causes Death Of Castleberry Youth: A 15-year-old Castleberry youth lost his life in a hunting accident near his home Saturday. Killed when a shotgun accidentally discharged was Jerry Earl Jones, a student at Conecuh County High School of Castleberry.

82 YEARS AGO

DEC. 17, 1936

The (Evergreen High School) boys and girls both played very good basketball Friday afternoon at Brooklyn. The boys won 14 to 9 and the girls won 37 to 4.