Fort Walton Beach boys edge Crestview

By TRAVIS DOWNEY

Northwest Florida Daily News
(850) 315-4476 | travisd@nwfdailynews.com

CRESTVIEW - Despite spending the entire first half hitting shots from every point on the floor and dominating a struggling Crestview team that had entered the night with just one win, Fort Walton Beach - which led by as many as 21 points in the second quarter - held on for a 56-51 win Tuesday night.

Talk about escaping with a win.

Crestview (1-11, 1-8 District 1-5A) outscored Fort Walton Beach (8-4, 3-2) 17-5 in the third quarter as the Vikings' early shooting touch turned cold and nearly cost them a crucial game in district play.

Clay Willis scored a game-high 16 points while Mike Shepherd added 12 to give Fort Walton Beach two players in double figures.

Crestview was led by Darius Applewhite's 14 points. Chris Pickett finished the night with 12 points and Carter Hamlin added 10 on a night of two distinct halves.

"We're very fortunate," Vikings coach John Lavin said. "My hat goes off to Crestview. They had every reason to fold their tent but they kept coming back."

Leading 39-20 at halftime, Fort Walton Beach appeared poised to turn the contest into a laugher as the teams came back out for the second half. Instead, a little-used freshman helped spark the Bulldogs to an 11-1 run to open the third and change the entire complexion of the game.

Justin Cline, a guard on the junior varsity for much of the season, received his first lengthy playing time with the varsity Tuesday and proved to be a difference-maker. Cline finished with just four points but his ability to distribute the basketball as well as keep possessions alive by corralling loose balls proved invaluable.

"He's been on the ninth-grade team and I saw him throwing passes around and hitting kids in the head because they didn't see it," Crestview coach Brian Humphrey said. "I asked him if he could throw it like that for me, he said he'd try."

With Cline manning the point, Crestview nearly completed a shocking comeback.

Applewhite scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half while Hamlin scored eight of his 10 over the final 16 minutes to bring the Bulldogs within four (48-44) with less than six minutes remaining.

Reece Drake followed up his own miss from the 3-point line with a driving layup moments later to extend the Vikings lead to 50-44.

Crestview answered with a 3-pointer and later a driving score of its own by Amond Robinson to cut the deficit to four again (53-49) with 1:09 left, but Fort Walton Beach would make the most of its ensuing trips to the free throw line to ice the win.

Still, even with the win in tow, Lavin said he felt the Vikings took a step in the wrong direction.

"Sometimes you can win a game and take a step backwards," Lavin said. "I think we won this game but we took a step backwards."

Fort Walton Beach returns to action Friday when they travel to Pine Forest. Crestview, which hosts Tate Thursday, has moved the opening tip-off up to 5 p.m..

FWB 20 19 5 17 - 56

Crestview 12 8 17 14 - 51

FWB (56)

Mike Shepherd 12, Reece Drake 9, Howard Valentine 4, Dimitri Bell 5, Clay Willis 16, A.J. Shepherd 3, Tanner Armstrong 2, Robbie Foster 2, Robert Willis 3. Totals: 16 6 6-19 56.

Crestview (51)

Justin Cline 4, Jaquarius Raison-Craig 2, Chris Pickett 10, Shykeem Jackson 5, Antryun Coleman 2, Colby Wilson 2, Darius Applewhite 14, Carter Hamlin 10. Totals: 21 1 6-20 51.

JV: Crestview won 39-34.