By BLAKE MCCORMICK
It wasn’t pretty and it took a couple more games than optimally desired, but in a battle of two highly touted Class A teams, South Walton’s Lady Seahawks got their first win of the season, with a strenuous 59-53 victory over Holmes County in front of a half-filled gymnasium at the Hawks Nest on Friday.
“I don’t care how we did it but the kids hung on and won,” said head coach Kevin Craig. “We really needed to beat a good team after a tough opening week against quality competition.”
Craig’s team lost their first two games of the season against higher classified teams as Class 7A Choctawhatchee and 8A Niceville posted wins against the Walton County squad.
Against Holmes County, the highly regarded Hawks unpleasantly found themselves in familiar territory, leading 50-36 with five minutes remaining in the game only to see Holmes County start a frantic rally as the Hawks appeared to unravel. But, holding on to a 56-53 lead with 7.6 seconds left and with Holmes possessing the ball following a timeout on their side of the court, Savannah Slade (24 points) made a clutch rebound, then drew a foul. The senior, who last week committed to the University of North Florida, made both of her free throws, taking the game out of reach of the resilient visitors from Bonifay.