The Covington County Junior High School Basketball Tournament, which does not include teams from Andalusia or Opp, began with three games at Florala City Middle School on Monday.

The first game pitted the 7th-grade Fleeta Falcons against the Wildcats from Florala. The Falcons earned a 39-23 win to advacne to the next round.

Fleeta's Falcons flew out to an 18-7 lead in the first half and held on down the stretch for the win.

Kurt Norris and Kyle Fore had 11 points each for Fleeta. Garrett Russell added 10 points. Ben Cooper had 3 points. Paul Umbarger and Brad Burleson had 2 points each.

Dustin Hinson paced Florala with 13 points. Eric Bess added 5 points. Jordan Suggs had 3 points and Dustin Suttles scored 2 points.

The Falcons play the No. 1-seeded Red Level Tigers at 4 p.m. today.

Red Level went 9-1 during the season with the only loss coming by one point to Pleasant Home by a score of 35-34 on Nov. 13.

Red Level avenged the loss last week defeating the Eagles 45-37 to earn the regular season crown.

In girls' action on Monday, the tournament began with an exciting game between the Red Level Lady Tigers and the Pleasant Home Lady Eagles.

Red Level earned a 25-23 win thanks to a basket by Erica Crawford with 14 seconds left in the game just after the Lady Eagles had knotted the score at 23-23.

The win was the third of the season for Red Level with all three coming against Pleasant Home.

Crawford was the leading scorer for the Lady Tigers with 12 points in the win. Breanna Pate added 8 points. Terissa Franklin had 3 points. Lindsay Jones had 2 points.

Britney Ward scored 10 points for Pleasant Home. Erin Byrd had 5 points. Michelle Odom and Samantha Poole had 4 points each.

The Red Level Lady Tigers face the Fleeta Lady Falcons tonight at 5 p.m.

The Lady Falcons won the regular season title with a 36-21 win against Florala last week. The Lady Falcons are 11-2 overall on the season.

In the 8th-grade boys' division of the tournament, the Red Level Tigers defeated the Pleasant Home Eagles 52-31.

Trevor Williams and Meshad Bullock scored 12 points each to pace the Tigers. Jeffery Day added 8 points. Blake Pate and Jerritt Varner scored 6 points each. Charlie Gordon, Dale Galinski, Stephen Bowen and Leonard Palmer had 2 points each.

Robbie Weaver was the leading scorer for Pleasant Home with 14 points. John Tisdale added 9 points. Garrett Roland, Chris Peacock, Tanner Carter and Sidney McKathan had 2 points each.

The Tigers face the host Florala Wildcats tonight at 6 p.m.

On Wednesday, the 7th-grade Pleasant Home Eagles play Straughn at 4 p.m. followed by a girls' game between Straughn and Florala at 5 p.m. The final game on Wednesday pits Straughn's 8th-grade boys against Fleeta at 6 p.m.