By PATRICK CASEY
Bell High School started both halves of their Class A state semifinal contest with Paxton hot but it was the Bobcats who closed both halves with a strong performance as a 19-9 run in the fourth quarter allowed the Walton County squad to earn a 63-50 victory in Lakeland.
Grant Stewart carried the Bobcats early as he scored the first eight points for the Walton County squad as Bell built a 15-8 lead nearly six minutes into the game by drilling several three points shots.
Paxton coach Jeff Bradley burned a timeout and the Bobcats responded with a 5-0 run to trim the lead to 21-17 after one quarter of play.
Bell nailed another pair of three point shots to go up 27-19 with 6:19 to go in the first half but Hunter Allen and Jack Hamilton each answered with one of their own to help the Bobcats to a 32-29 lead that moved to 33-30 at intermission.
Bell came right back at the start of the third quarter to close the gap to 35-34 but Zach Varnum began to take over the game as he keyed a 7-0 run that put the Bobcats ahead 44-37.
Bell struggled in the second half as the Bobcats extended their pressure defense to the three-point line, holding the Bulldogs to 2-of-10 three point shooting in the second half while forcing 18 total turnovers that led to 22 points for Paxton.
Varnum scored 24 points and had 14 rebounds in the game and made all six of his free throws while Stewart finished with 19 points.
Paxton hit 20-of-44 field goals while hitting 18-of-25 from the free throw line. Bell was 17-of-50 from the field and only 9-of-16 at the line.
Sophomore Reese Rankin had 14 points and forward Josh Thomas 13 for Bell but the Bobcats held a 51-43 lead with 4:58 to go and spread the floor on offense, forcing the Bulldogs to chase them and commit fouls to try and rally.
The strategy did not work as the Bobcats, who shoot 69% from the free throw line, made 14-of-20 to close out the contest and improve to 25-3 overall with a Wednesday afternoon showdown with Chipley (27-3) at 4 p.m. for the Class A crown.
Team Notes: Jeff Bradley is in his 18th season and holds a record of 369-140 as the boys varsity head coach. Paxton won their 13th consecutive game of the season after winning their first 12 games to start the year before dropping three in a row. Junior Zach Varnum has scored 1,430 points in his varsity career while senior Grant Stewart has 1,375. Ponce de Leon was the last Area 5 team to win a state semifinal as they defeated Bunnell 73-60 before defeating Key West Mary Immaculate 67-52 to win the Class A title for the 1971-72 season. The last Walton County school to win a state semi and title was the Freeport boys squad of 1967-68 that defeated Greenville 98-48 and Moore Haven 75-50 to win Class C. Paxton won state titles in Class C in both 1954-55 and 1961-62 under coach Philip Anderson. Chipley won state titles in boys basketball in Class A in 2011-12 and 2014-15 under coach Joel Orlando. Chipley is 46-35 all-time in the state tournament while Paxton is 21-18.