As a freshman on the varsity girls basketball team at Pace, Emily Neal was tasked one night with going up against Rachel Leggett, then a star at Navarre but now a college standout at South Alabama.
It wasn’t easy facing one of the area’s top players but Neal handled it well.
It’s district tournament time in soccer and the girls teams from Navarre and Pace are among the contenders for a crown.
Both tournaments get underway this week and will be played at the Ashton Brosnaham Complex in Pensacola.
Kaylee Gilbreath is a multi-sport athlete currently playing a key role for the Jay Royals girls basketball team.
She’ll tell you softball is her favorite sport, but the sophomore standout said that basketball is rising up the charts on her favorite list.
Never mind that the television cameras were focused in on Milton’s game against Crestview in a District 1-6A battle last Tuesday night.
The Panthers were ready for the moment and got the job done on the road against the Bulldogs, winning 55-48 and avenging an earlier season loss to Crestview.
Alyssa Clark knocked down a 3-pointer in the corner as the final seconds of the opening quarter against Jay ticked away, the Pace bench erupting in cheers as Clark’s hot hand helped carry the Patriots to a 22-8 lead after one.
Jay and Central’s girls basketball teams are both in the top four in this week’s Region 1-1A rankings while Pace continues to hold down a spot in the top eight of the Region 1-6A rankings.
On the boys side, Jay is fourth in 1A and Milton remains seventh in 6A.
Things have changed a bit this week in the FHSAA Region 1-6A rankings.
Pace and Navarre have traded places in the girls rankings, with Pace going to fifth and Navarre now sixth.
Shannon Bryan moved up to the 139-pound weight class this year but hasn’t missed a beat.
And the Pace senior is feeling good about where she’s at as a lifter going into the postseason.
Looking for the team highlight of last Friday’s Navarre Invitational? That belongs to Pace’s girls weightlifting team, which repeated as champions in convincing fashion.
As for the top individual performance, that goes to Milton’s Dana Tolleson, who raised her game to another level, breaking invitational records and a school record.
