Powered by the shutdown defense and a fast-paced offense, Crestview took out the Ponte Vedra 45-33. The Lady Bulldogs are scheduled to play at Oakleaf High School in Orange Park on Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Oakleaf beat District 1-6A runner up Pace 67-36.

From the start of pregame warmups the contrasting styles of the teams were obvious.

The Lady Bulldogs rely on an up tempo game that works off defensive pressure. Crestview can shoot the deep ball, but the Lady Bulldogs probably do their best work on the inside.

Ponte Vedra runs a motion offense depending on the 3-point basket. When the 3-pointers don’t fall and the Lady Sharks are forced to play catchup, as was the case against Crestview, it can be like running uphill on sand dunes.

The Lady Sharks kept things interesting in the first quarter as Ponte Vedra led 8-7 at the end of the first quarter on the strength of 3-point baskets by Maya Richards and Kennedy Rosendahl.

Crestview led first though as Katiya Casey hit a 3-pointer that was followed by a 2-point basket by Gracie Boydstun.  Elise Simmons scored the other Crestview basket off and offensive rebound.

Kasey scored half of Crestview’s 14 points in the second quarter as the Lady Bulldogs began to impose their will on the visitors from St. John County. Simmons scored her second basket of the game for Crestview. Natalie Toney hit a 3-pointer to get the Lady Bulldogs started in the second quarter.

Any hope Ponte Vedra might have had evaporated in the third quarter like the morning dew on a hot summer day in Okaloosa County. That hot summer day was the Lady Bulldog defense that held the Lady Sharks to a single point.

Lauren Cox contributed a pair of free throws as Crestview led 21-18 at the end of the first half.

“I felt like we held a really good shooting team to two 3-point baskets in the first half,” Crestview coach Connor Williams said. half. “I knew that if we could explode in the third quarter and extend ourselves apart a little bit, we’d be in pretty good shape going into the fourth.

“And I believe, we held them to one point in the third. That speaks volumes to our defense, the way the kids played. We really did our homework and were really prepared for this game.”

Crestview led 30-19 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation. The deficit was too much for the Lady Sharks to overcome.

A free throw by Day with four minutes left in the fourth quarter put Crestview up 19 points with a  43-24 lead. The Lady Bulldog lead was again 19 points after a Casey basket with 3:27 left in the game.

At that time both coaches emptied their respective benches and the Lady Sharks cut Crestview’s margin of victory to 12 points, but never threatened after the third quarter.

Casey led Crestview in scoring with 16 points. Simmons also scored in double figures with 10 points. Gracie Boydstun had eight points, Cox had five points, Toney and Madyson Bodystun each scored three points to round out the scoring for the Lady Bulldogs.

Bulldog coach Greg Watson called a quick timeout and rallied his force. Lorenzo Blackwell hit a 3-pointer on Crestview’s possession following the timeout to put the Bulldogs up 3-2. Blackwell’s three was followed by a Makhi Jones 3-pointer and Crestview never looked back on the way to a 56-41 win.

“Defensively is why I wanted to call the timeout because we gave up a layup and they’re running an offense that we run,” Watson said. “It was just to have them focus.

“If you ever get a score early, then it feels like it just opens up the basket and we were getting some good looks.”

The basket was in fact open for the Bulldogs after they time out and they found their shooting range from deep and in the paint.

Jones and Tyrell Stewart continued the sharp shooting barrage for the Bulldogs after the Tigers hit a 3-pointer to cut the Crestview lead to 6-5. Back-to-back treys by the Bulldog duo put Crestview up 12-5.

Brian Harris, who hit the 3-pointer for the Tigers, scored a 2-point basket with 1:40 left in the first to pull Pensacola to within five points of Crestview. Four points for Crestview by Jones pushed the Bulldog lead to 16-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Pensacola never got closer to the Bulldogs than seven points after that.

Crestview extended the lead to 30-11 at the end of the first half.  Stewart scored six of his 11 points in the second quarter and A.J. Johnson was good for four points in the period.

Cecil Perdue hit a 3-pointer 33 seconds into the third quarter and the Bulldogs led by 22. Crestview’s biggest lead came a few minutes later when, with 2:35 left in the period, Braylon Phillips scored to make the lead 44-20.

Several reserves so extensive playing time for the Bulldogs in the second half. Tadgh Foley made the most of his action hitting four free throws in the fourth quarter for Crestview.

Jones led Crestview with 22 points. Stewart’s 11 points made him the only other Bulldog with double figures. Eight different Bulldogs scored.

Watson was pleased with the way his team played in the middle of the game.

“I think for probably two-and-a-half quarters that’s the best as we played all year,” he said. “From midway to the first through, probably to the middle of the third, we played really good basketball.

“We made the extra pass and we attacked the paint. We made some shots. We played good defense.”

At times it looked as if Crestview would run away with the game as it did in December’s double-digit win. At other times it looked as if Niceville would get revenge and return the favor of handing the Lady Bulldogs a loss on their home court.

In the end it was a scrappy Crestview defense coupled with timely scores that led to the win.

“Any time you’ve got three players in double digit scoring, and you’ve got two other players flirting with double digits, it allows you to do a lot of special things on the offensive end,” Crestview coach Connor Williams said. “Defensively, we fell apart at times, but we came together, and I think that speaks volumes to what we can do when we weather the storm.

“Beating your rival twice in one year is crazy. It’s such a good feeling.”

The three Lady Bulldogs putting up double digits were Elesi Simmons with 20 points, Katiya Casey with 16 points and Gracie Boydstun, 11 points. Lauren Cox added nine points and Natalie Toney eight points, giving Crestview balanced scoring across the board.

The first quarter was nip-and-tuck as the teams seemed to size each other up.

Casey scored half of her points in the first quarter as the Bulldogs held a 14-11 lead after one period of play.

While the Bulldogs relied on balanced scoring, the Eagles went inside to junior post player Anna Kimball. The 6-foot-2 Kimball was a force inside scoring a game-high 36 points. Freshman point guard Carson Fayard was the only other Niceville player in double figures scoring 10 points.

Crestview led 25-18 after a Kimball basket for Niceville with 4:50 left in the second quarter. In a flash the Bulldogs ran off 11 straight points to double up the Eagles pushing the lead to 36-18.

A Madyson Boydstun 3-pointer started the run. Gracie Boydstun scored six points during the Lady Bulldog explosion and Abagail Fordyce scored as well.

Even when Niceville closed out the half with an 8-2 run the Lady Bulldogs still seemed to hold a comfortable lead heading in the second half.

Kimball scored 14 points in the third quarter as Niceville came all the way back to tie the game at 48-48 with 51 seconds left in the third quarter. It was a 3-point play by Kimball that pulled the tied the game.

Toney hit a 3-point basket with 19 seconds left in the third to give Crestview the lead for good.

With 5:09 left in the fourth quarter, Simmons stole the ball and took it the length of the floor for a score to stretch the Crestview lead to 62-52. Niceville never got any closer than within five points of the Lady Bulldogs the rest of the game.

“It was crazy,” Simmons said. “There were a lot of people in the stands. There was a lot of love for our team.

“To beat our rivals after a whole bunch of talk it’s nice to get the win.”

Brunson replaces former Alabama head coach Mike Dubose as the head football coach and athletic director of the Bobcats. Brunson will remain at Baker through the end of the current school year and start the job at Opp on July 1, 2023.

“It happened kind of quickly,” Brunson said. “I’ve finished up my 30th year in the Florida retirement system, and this year I was just administrator serving as the athletic director. I wanted to get out of coaching for a year to see what it would be like.

“I found out that I’m not great at sitting on the sidelines. The goal was to be back on the sidelines next fall and finish it up Florida. But having a job of this magnitude with the close proximity to Baker so I can commute and my wife (Polly) can finish her last two years was a God thing.”

Baker has won an Okaloosa County best five state championships in football and Brunson has been a part of all five. As a Gator player he was a part of three championships in 1983, 1984 and 1985. As an assistant coach for Jeff Webb, Brunson was part of the Class 2A state championship team in 1983.

He was the head coach of the Baker’s 2020 state champions. He also won a Division II national championship while playing for the then Troy State football team in 1987. And he led Crestview to the best finish in the history of Bulldogs football taking them to the 2002 Class 3A state championship game.

Brunson’s first head coaching job was at Vernon in the late 1990s.

This will be the first time in his career that Brunson isn’t taking a team that needs to be rebuilt. The Bobcats finished the 2022 season with an 8-3 record and lost in the opening round of the playoffs.

“They’ve been competing for regional championships in their region,” Brunson said. “They make the playoffs. My goal is to just get a little further into the playoffs and maybe play in November.”

Baker principal Mike Martello was a schoolmate and teammate of Brunson while attending Baker School. The fact that Brunson won’t be leaving until July gives Martello and the school time to fill the position.

“We’re going to start the official process (of finding a new athletic director) in the early spring,” Martello said. “We are looking for the next athletic director that is passionate about the small school atmosphere and understands that.

“Being from Baker is not going to be a main point, but knowing what our kids face and knowing what they need to get into college and make our athletic program as successful as possible will be.”

Martello said there are several people already at the school that are qualified for the job if they were to apply. That doesn’t mean they would be the most qualified, but an in-house candidate is a possibility.

Whoever takes the torch from Brunson will have big shoes to fill.

“He’s just a shining example of just because you’re from Baker doesn’t mean that you have to settle for less,” Martello said. “He’s never settled for less, no matter where he was. He’s always striving for excellence and that’s what he’s achieved.

“He’s a shining example for everybody else here in the community.”

Brunson’s time at Baker School will end in June, but he will carry the values of the school with him wherever he goes.

“This is my whole life,” he said. “I love it here. The school made me what I am.

“My kids went to school here so for that I’ll forever be thankful. It’s been awesome and I’ll always be a Baker Gator. But having said that, I am excited about my next challenge.”

Born without a left forearm and hand, Wagner has been overcoming adversity all of his life. In the process he rushed for 5,842 yards and 67 touchdowns in his Baker career.

Wagner also set a state record for rushing yards in a single game in 2021 when he ran for 535 yards against South Walton breaking the record held by Derrick Henry of the National Football League’s Tennessee Titans.

Former Baker coach and current athletic director Matt Brunson got emotional when talking about Wagner.

“It’s my job to inspire and motivate these kids,” Brunson said as he was overcome with emotion. “Nobody has ever inspired me like Kayleb has.

“He’s like a lot of Baker kids. He’s tough and he competes. He talks about what he can do and not what he can’t do.”

Wagner committed to SIU in the summer and after that pretty much shut the process down.

“I just fell in love with the school,” Wagner said. “Carbondale (Ill.) is not that big. I just like the people and the players I met there.

“They are a lot like the people here in Baker.”

Wagner said the Salukis run a spread offense as opposed to the Wing-T the Gators run.

This year Wagner was asked to take on a greater role on defense that might have hurt his offensive game a little, but it showed the versatility of the 6-foot-1, 215-pound battering ram.

The Baker Way of hard work and a relentless pursuit of excellence is something Wagner thinks will help him achieve success at the college level. He credits Joe Brunson, Matt’s son and a 2021 Baker graduate, for showing him what it means to be a quiet leader by example.

“I’ve never I never seen anybody working as hard as he has,” Wagner said of Joe Brunson. “He was a but he didn’t say anything. He was actually speaking with his actions.

“That guy works very hard, and I’ve tried to do it like he did.”

Baker coach Barry Gardner said Wagner is an unselfish player that gladly accepted the challenge of playing both ways this fall.

“He’s always been a very good offensive player at running back the last four years,” Gardner said. “He showed his leadership when he went and played defense.

“He has a way of making people have a good feeling about themselves.”

Gardner and the senior Brunson both stressed that Wagner not only put in the effort on the field, but in the classroom to make the grades that allowed him to play college football.

“We’re just so proud of Kayleb and all he’s accomplished, all that he’s overcome,” Martello said. “I think he is an example for the other kids who are here in Baker that if you can work hard enough, you can overcome just about anything in the world and achieve the dreams that you have.

“I want him to be the example for other kids to get motivated and to pursue their goals with the same dedication and enthusiasm that he did. Just because you’re from Baker doesn’t mean you have to settle for less.”