Sports Archive

It’s unclear what, if anything, Baker boys basketball coach Brent Zessin said to the Gators at halftime on Tuesday’s game with rival Laurel Hill.

Whatever it was or wasn’t worked and then some.

There’s no polite way to describe Monday’s girls basketball game between Laurel Hill and Baker. It was ugly.
It was ugly to the tune of more than 40 fouls being whistled. It was ugly to the tune of the teams hitting a combined 26-of-54 from the free throw line. It was ugly to the point that a 32-minute game on the clock, with a 10-minute half took 87 minutes to complete.

Sometimes you just burn the game film and move on. That’s more or less what Baker boys basketball coach Brent Zessin did after Friday’s game with Pensacola Christian Academy.
The Warriors wore out the nets with 14 3-point baskets good for 42 points on their way to beating the Gators 68-47.

Ask any coach and they will tell you defense wins championships.
The Baker Lady Gator basketball team is living by the mantra as, at times, scoring is hard to come by outside of McKenzie McGraw.

Whatever challenge the Pace boys basketball team posed for Crestview on Thursday night, the Bulldogs were hard pressed to find an answer.
If the challenge was the length of the Patriots, the Bulldogs struggled. If the challenge was the Pace 3-point shooting, the Bulldogs were a step late on defense. What counters the Bulldogs had early in the game disappeared like the morning fog on a warm summer day.

A big second quarter by Crestview’s Lady Bulldogs broke open Thursday’s girls basketball game with Washington. Crestview led 16-12 after the first quarter but after that the game wasn’t really close.
The Lady Bulldogs outscored Washington 19-11 in the second quarter on the way to a 66-55 win. The game really wasn’t in doubt after the first half.

Lorenzo Blackwell is a linebacker and receiver for the Crestview High School football team in the fall.

As is the case with many Bulldog athletes, a change in seasons simply means a change in sports. Now that the winter has arrived, Blackwell, a sophomore, plays guard for the basketball team.

Preston Nixon graduated from Baker School in 2009. 

He was a fixture on the Gator football and baseball teams during his time at Baker. Nixon is back at his alma mater teaching and coaching.

Everyone’s familiar with the story of the tortoise and the hare. The one about slow and steady wins the race.
Don’t tell the Cordova (Ala.) Blue Devils that. They represented the tortoise and the Crestview boys represented the hare in the final day of the Island Beach Blowout basketball tournament.

Those who believe it’s never over until it’s over might have had second thoughts on Monday when the Crestview Lady Bulldog basketball team took on West Carroll, Tenn., in the opening round of the Navarre Beach Holiday Classic.
Crestview scored the first 15 points of the game and had a 20-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. At that point any hopes the War Eagles had of winning were likely gone.