CRESTVIEW — Trailing Fort Walton Beach by 10 points with four minutes left in the third quarter Crestview High School’s boys basketball team was down but not out.
A Marquis McClain basket triggered an 11-0 Bulldog run to give Crestview a 40-39 lead with 2:20 left in the period. And then the teams got down to some serious business Tuesday night fighting for every score.
When the final horn sounded Crestview had wrestled away a 61-60 District 1-7A win and wrapped up the number two seed in the upcoming district tournament.
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach boys basketball photos>>>
The Bulldog win was their third of the season over the Vikings and each game was decided by four points or less.
“It’s never easy,” Bulldog coach Greg Watson said. “We’ve already played them two other times and both games came down to three or four points. It’s always going to be like this the way they play.
“They (the Vikings) play hard and they play good defense. They shot the ball good and that’s part of us maturing is you have to realize you have to go guard."
If ever a game pitted the inside game against the outside game this was the one. The Vikings outscored the Bulldogs 33-6 from beyond the arch.
In the mean time Crestview relied on Marquis McClain, Keenan Redd and Andrew Adkins to do the heavy lifting on the inside. The trio combined for 41 of Crestview’s points.
McClain led all scorers with 20 points. Adkins pitched n 11 and Redd added 10.
McClain gave the Bulldogs (12-8, 6-2) a quick 4-0 lead on a couple of easy scores inside the paint.
The Vikings (9-12, 2-5) then unleashed their 3-point attack. Zaire Davis hit the first of four Viking bombs in the first quarter. A.J. Marshall, Jason Cooper and Trevor Cochran, who led Fort Walton Beach with 18 points, each hit threes.
The game was tied 16-16 at the end of the first quarter and Fort Walton Beach led 32-29 at the half.
A B.J. Wade 3-pointer followed by 2-point baskets by Cochran and Davis stretched the Viking lead to 10 points before the Bulldogs mounted the comeback.
An old fashion 3-point play by Adkins with 2:45 left in the fourth quarter put the Bulldogs in front 53-50. Crestview was up by seven points with 1:51 left in the game and then held off a late Fort Walton Beach charge for the win.
“We had to pick up our defense (in the second half),” McClain said. “Our defense is what won us the game today.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bulldogs rally past Vikings (PHOTOS, VIDEO)