CRESTVIEW — Krista McQueen scored 23 points to lead a trio of Walton girls in double figures as the Braves beat Crestview 67-46 Thursday night.
McQueen was joined in double figures by Taliah Moore, who scored 21 and Deja Tucker with 14.
The Braves (18-7) wasted little time in taking control of the game. A Jasmine Middleton basket off a Walton turnover with 25 seconds gone in the game gave the Bulldogs their only lead of the night at 2-0.
A Moore 3-pointer put Walton up 3-2. Tucker's first score made it 5-2 in favor of the Braves.
Crestview's Molly Woodward hit a 3-pointer to tie things up at 5-5 with 6:13 left in the first quarter. But that was the last time the Bulldogs didn't trail Walton.
The Braves closed out the first quarter with a 16-3 run to take a 21-8 lead as Tucker had seven points in the first quarter and Moore six.
Crestview opened the second quarter with scored by Woodward and Arianna Sims to get the Walton lead to under 10 points. Walton led 31-21 at the half.
"I thought we came out playing real well, but then we had a little lull and I got perturbed at them," Walton coach Jerry Hester said. "I thought we lost our intensity and everything. I don't know if they thought they saw the writing on the wall.
"But I was proud of the start, and then we had the lull and then came back out in the second half and cranked it back up."
A strong third quarter by the Braves sealed the fate of the Bulldogs (9-11) Moore and McQueen teamed up for 11 of the 19 Brave points in the third as Walton outscored Crestview 19-8 in the quarter to push the lead to 50-29.
The Bulldogs played the visitors even in the fourth quarter, but by then it was too late. McQueen scored 10 of Walton's 17 points in the quarter as the Braves pulled away with the win.
Woodward led Crestview in scoring with 11 points. Sims and Krista Johnson each scored seven points. Middleton and Jensis Coleman each had six for Crestview.
Crestview coach Kathy Combest said the Bulldogs have the talent to win, but they still aren't doing the little things.
"We are still not blocking out our man, and that's a biggie," she said. "We are throwing the ball when their are two people between us and the man and we are still doing the same mistakes."
Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Walton girls down Crestview