Indians win rematch with Eagles (SLIDESHOW, VIDEO)

FORT WALTON BEACH – The Choctawhatchee boys basketball team started implementing its game plan for Tuesday night’s District 2-6A rematch with Niceville last Wednesday. The message Andy Thigpen had for his team was simple: Stop Kyle Koszuta.

View an action photo slideshow from the game »

The Indians (15-5, 5-1) threw body after body at the talented Niceville point guard and pressed the Eagles hard all night long on their way to a 68-49 win at home.

The win evens Choctaw’s record with Niceville (11-7, 4-1) at 1-1 on the year and the two are currently tied atop the district standings.

The Choctaw defense forced Niceville into 17 turnovers on the game, while only committing six of its own.

Jonathan Brassell led the way for the Indians offensively. Brassell scored 20 points and showed the range he’s known for early in the contest with a 3-pointer from about 26-feet out in the first quarter. The talented guard then displayed his athleticism on the defensive end with a steal and two-handed dunk in the second quarter to extend the Choctaw lead to 27-12 with 6:46 to go in the first half.

“When John’s on fire good things happen,” Thigpen said. “As long as he plays in the flow of the game, he has the green light as soon as he crosses half court and he knows what a good shot is and what a bad shot is.

“He’s a leader that gets us going on the floor and he does everything we ask.”

Prior to tipoff, Thigpen asked for his team to deny Koszuta the ball and, when the ball did find its way into his hands, to make life difficult for the Eagles’ point guard.

“The whole team revolves around Koszuta,” Brassell said. “We worked on a game plan since last Wednesday and we had to cut off the source. We cut off the source and what happened?”

After torching the Indians for 27 points in their last contest, Koszuta finished with 14 Tuesday night. But the Indians pressure simply disallowed the Eagles to sustain any momentum on the offensive end – with the exception of an early third quarter run that got the Eagles within one-point at 38-37 after a 3-pointer by Shane Horton. Horton led Niceville with 15 points.

But that was as close as the Indians would get as Mikal Rodgers led the second half charge, scoring all 13 of his points in the final two quarters. Bryan Baker finished with 10 points on the night and Justin Ware scored 11.

“I couldn’t wish for a better team,” Brassell said. “We have so much depth, anyone could play at any given time.”

Follow Pat Flynn on Twitter: @PatFnwfdn