FORT WALTON BEACH — There were no real surprises as No. 1 seed Crestview High School rolled to a 53-38 win over Navarre in the District 1-7A boys basketball tournament semifinals.
Big men Denzel Ware and Jerry Aaron each scored 13 points and Ronnie Baylark added 10 points as the Bulldogs (20-6) led most of the game.
The Raiders, who were playing without their top player, Gaitlin Casey, kept it close early behind the play of Matthew Webb and Cameron Mayweather.
A 3-point play by Webb with 2:51 left in the first quarter put Navarre up 11-10. But back-to-back 3-pointers by Tay King and Marcelle Moorer pushed Crestview back in front 16-11 at the end of the period.
Aaron and Ware took over in the second quarter as Crestview extended the lead to 31-18 at the half. Navarre never got closer than 12 point in the second half as the Bulldogs marched into tonight’s 7 p.m. championship game with Niceville.
“I think we did a good job of doing what we do good,” Bulldog Coach Greg Watson said. “L.J. (Aaron) got off to a good start, which is good for us and hit a couple of jumpers.
“They (the Raiders) really boxed it in inside and I thought we handled it pretty well. Defensively, I think we played well overall.”
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: Bulldogs down Raiders in district semifinals