By PATRICK CASEY
The South Walton Seahawks boys basketball team broke a six-game losing streak with a hard fought 60-58 decision over Graceville on Monday night.
Senior Ross Martin helped the home team by scoring 27 points, including hitting 9-of-14 shots from the charity stripe, to pull out the victory.
The Seahawks led 12-5 after the first eight minutes of the contest as the Tigers could connect on only 2-of-17 shots from the field in the first quarter.
The Tigers shooting woes continued into the second period as they hit only five more shots in the first half, connecting on only 7-of-38 shots from the floor to trail 26-19 at halftime.
Graceville stayed close by taking advantage of 10 first half turnovers by the host squad.
Chris Gastauer and Paxton Dixon each had seven points in the first half while Martin scored nine as the Seahawks were sharp at the charity stripe, making 10-of-13 in the first half.
South Walton extended the lead to 43-32 after three quarters as the Seahawks made 7-of-15 shots from the field in the third quarter while the Tigers struggled from both the field and the free throw line, connecting on only 2-of-11 shots from the charity stripe in the first 24 minutes.
Graceville coach Matt Anderson saw his team rally as they went to a heavy pressure defense that either forced a turnover or committed fouls, slowing the pace of the game and turning a good portion of the final four minutes into a free throw shooting contest.
The strategy worked as South Walton missed all three of their one-and-ones late in the period with the visiting team getting key baskets from Ladarius Nicks, Octavian Mount and Malachi Watts to rally to tie the game.
Dixon made a pair of free throws to help stem the flow of momentum with Martin hitting the first of two shots to give the Seahawks a 60-58 lead with 20 seconds left in the game.
Graceville had four chances to tie or win the game but missed a pair of shots from inside as well as two from behind the arc as South Walton held on for the two-point victory.
Poor shooting killed the visiting team’s chances at the victory as the Tigers hit only 20-of-79 from the field and 9-of-23 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Derrick White led the Tigers with 22 points but fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Mount finished with 11 points and senior Marquavious Johnson added 10 as the Tigers fell to 6-2 overall.
South Walton improved to 3-7 as Dixon had 11 points with the Seahawks connecting on 20-of-47 from the field and 17-of-28 from the charity stripe.
The victory avenged a 67-53 loss in Graceville on Nov. 24.
Team Notes: The six game losing streak that was snapped is the longest losing streak since coach John Davies’ first season in 2007-08 when the Seahawks lost their first 10 games of the season. Davies is in his eighth season and holds a mark of 90-105 in that time. The victory over the Tigers was the first by the Seahawks boys program which now holds a 1-6 mark against the school. The South Walton boys basketball team holds a varsity mark of 112-191 in 11+ seasons of competition.
