Sports Archive

It was the best of the East against the best of the West as senior volleyball players took the court for one last high school match on Tuesday at the University of West Florida Fieldhouse.

The Pensacola Sports Association All-Star Volleyball Match featured an East squad, made up of athletes from Santa Rosa and Okaloosa Counties, and a West team featuring athletes from Escambia County.

Crestview High School’s 2022 football season came to an end Friday night in the semifinal round of the Region 1-4S playoffs.

The scoreboard was still on late Friday night as Baker head coach Barry Gardner, fighting back tears much the way his players were trying to do, gathered his team near the far end zone and talked about the curtain lowering on the season.

Now in his fourth year coaching the Laurel Hill girls basketball team, Carl Henry believes this could be the year the Hoboes start the return to their former glory.

Alaynah Smith has that “it” factor when taking the softball in the circle for the Baker Lady Gators.

The senior will continue to showcase her talents after graduation when she continues her career at Lurlene B. Wallace Community College in Andalusia, Ala.

Crestview’s 2022 football season came to an end Friday night in the semifinal round of the Region 1-4S playoffs.
A week after making the short trip to Niceville and upsetting their rival Eagles, the Bulldogs made the long road trip to Gainesville to take on a talented Buchholz squad. Crestview mistakes, coupled with the firepower of the Bobcats, equaled a 54-33 win by Buchholz.

Baker head coach Barry Gardner spent several minutes talking with his team after Friday night’s 39-20 1A regional semifinal loss to Chipley.

The pain of this defeat here on a chilly evening at Philip Roundtree Stadium cut deep, and it was evident in the emotion shown in Gardner’s post game talk as well as through the tears the players shed as the realization hit that the lights of Friday night have been dimmed until 2023.

Crestview’s Lady Bulldogs basketball team opened the 2022-23 campaign on Tuesday night against Fort Walton Beach to mixed results under first-year coach Connor Williams.
The team played hard under their rookie boss and led throughout a large portion of the game. But first-game jitters and sloppy play negated the positives as Crestview fell to the Vikings 48-44.

Crestview’s football team arrived safely in Gainesville a little around 5 p.m. on Thursday for Friday’s playoff game with Buchholz.
After checking into their rooms, the team went through a walk-through at an open field next to their motel as the final glimmers of light gave way to darkness.

A gritty Baker football team will be tested on Friday when the Gators travel to Chipley to take on the Tigers in the Region 1-1A R semi-finals. Game time is set for 7:30.
The Gators enter the game with an 8-3 record and playing some of their best football of the season. They will need to be playing their best against a talented Tiger squad that has a perfect 10-0 record and received a first-round bye in the playoffs.