Destin trips up at the line, falls to Ruckel

They battled, they just couldn’t pull down the win.

The Destin Marlins lost 39-33 to the Ruckel Rams in the second round of the Okaloosa County Middle School Basketball Tournament in Niceville Tuesday evening.

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“It just wasn’t meant to be,” said Destin Coach Ron Griffiths.

“I thought my kids played hard,” Griffiths said. “I thought they battled. We just couldn’t get the big shots to fall when we needed it.”

Destin took the early lead with Vinnie Ciurleo putting an offensive rebound back for two points. Ruckel answered with Michael Baffa hitting an inside shot. Destin came back with a long shot from Tiger Scheyd. Ruckel made one from the free-throw line, and Ciurleo slashed through the paint for two points. Ruckel tossed in an inside shot for a one-point game.

Seconds later Ciurleo was fouled and went to the line and hit the second of two tries for a 7-5 game.

With a minute left, Ruckel’s Kolt Drautz knocked down a 3-pointer and Baffa cashed in on a turnover for two points and a 10-7 lead at the buzzer.

To start the second quarter, Drautz popped another 3-pointer to increase the Rams lead by six. Destin had opportunity to close it back down but missed five of five tries from the free throw line. The Marlins finally got a couple of shots to fall with Cody Moore knocking down two from the line.

In the next four minutes, the scoring went back and forth with Ruckel holding a 19-15 lead at the half.

The Rams again edged away at the start of the third with a long shot from Corey Amaker followed by a 3-pointer from Drautz. Destin again had opportunity from the line making five of 10 tries. Ruckel led 26-20 at the end of three quarters.

In the fourth, Ruckel increased its lead by 10 with a basket and a 3-pointer from Drautz, his fourth of the game. Destin closed it back down with a couple of 3s from Scheyd and Moore. By the close, Ruckel had a six-point advantage.

“It was a very physical game,” Griffiths said. The Marlins made it to the free-throw line 12 times making 11 of 23 tries.

Free throws have “haunted us the second half of the year,” Griffiths said. “You’ve got to be able to step up and knock ‘em down in a close game.”

Nevertheless, Griffiths was pleased with the Marlins season.

“Getting that first round win in the tournament was big,” he said, noting that was a first in five years. Destin edged out Shoal River on Monday by one point.

Destin finished the season 6-7, with four of the losses by seven points or less.

Top scorer for Destin against Ruckel was Ciurleo with 11 points. Scheyd and Moore each scored seven.

Hitting double digits for Ruckel were Drautz with 15 points, and Baffa with 13.