By PATRICK CASEY
The South Walton Lady Seahawks defeated the Holmes County Bluedevils 58-47 on Nov. 15 in the season opener for both teams.
South Walton put the home court advantage to good use as the Seahawks hit 17-of-41 shots from the floor to build a 26-19 halftime advantage that they would never relinquish in avenging last year’s district semifinal loss to the Bluedevils.
Sophomore Casey Perot led South Walton with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Eve Heffron and Allysa Bump each contributed nine points on the night.
Holmes County struggled from the floor as they managed to hit only 15-of-58 shots in the game and could never catch up to the Seahawks after falling behind early in the first quarter.
Mikayla Moore and Cierra Davis each had 12 points for Holmes County in the losing effort.
Turnovers plagued both teams as the contest looked like the first game of the year. South Walton had 30 turnovers to the Bluedevils 23 while the Seahawks canned 20-of-48 free throws to the Bluedevils 13-of-23 from the charity stripe.
“We rebounded well,” coach Craig said after the contest. “This group has a lot of potential. We have only three seniors this season and it will be a work in progress to get us molded together during the year.”
South Walton fell at home to Ponce de Leon on Friday night 50-36 to fall to 1-1 as Pirates center Jasmine Flock led the Pirates with 22 points and helped the visiting team to a 42-30 advantage in rebounds on the night.
The Seahawks were led by Allysa Bump and Taylor Menard with six points apiece.
Team Notes: Seahawks coach Kevin Craig is 127-66 in his eighth season with the team. South Walton is 64-24 at home under Craig. The Seahawks hold an 8-7 lead in the series with a 5-3 mark at home and have won eight of the last ten meetings. The two teams are not scheduled to face each other again this season and are in different districts for the next two years. South Walton will trave to PDL for a rematch with the Pirates on Friday, Dec. 16.