‘Run and press’ - South Walton Seahawks open fire on Buccaneers

It was run and gun for the South Walton Seahawks as they blasted the visiting North Bay Haven Buccaneers 77-37 in boy’s varsity basketball action Friday night in Santa Rosa Beach.

"Our formula is the same," said South Walton Coach John Davies. "We're just going to try and run and press, and run and press, and run and press, and just get a little better at it as we go."

And the Hawks executed it almost perfectly Friday night as they flew up and down the court hitting shot after shot.

Out of the 14 players on the varsity roster, nine players put points on the board.

Leading the Hawks with 22 points was Paxton Dixon. Others hitting double digits were John Woolf with 17 points and Ross Martin with 10. Nick Fogg and Vinnie Ciurleo each scored seven and Casey Palmer tossed in six. Stephen Stroop and Cameron Burke each nailed a 3-pointer, and Grant Burden chipped in two points.

"Everyone that played mattered. Everyone contributed, everyone scored, played the defense … it's such a team effort," Davies said.

The Seahawks dominated on the court taking charge of the game early with a 15-point run to start. North Bay finally got on the board with two minutes left in the period on a couple of 3-pointers. South Walton wrapped up the first quarter, 20-6.

In the second period, the Hawks continued to outscore the Buccaneers 19-12 with Dixon and Stroop each tossing in 3-pointers.

In the third quarter, South Walton continued to press and pull away with six Hawks contributing on the scoreboard. Martin tossed in six points and Woolf five. Ciurleo scored four points and Fogg popped a 3-pointer. Palmer and Dixon each chipped in two points. South Walton led 61-34 at the buzzer.

At the start of the fourth period, Dixon swished a 3-pointer and converted two turnovers for layups, followed by two inside shots from Woolf to start a running clock on the game. In the last four minutes, North Bay scored three points, and South Walton five.

"The team chemistry is fantastic. Everybody subs for each other and cheers for each other. Its just one of those years when it's great to come to work," Davies said.

The Seahawks played in a holiday tournament in DeFuniak Springs earlier this week, final results were not available at press time.

South Walton will be back at home on Dec. 3 for a 7 p.m. game against the Bozeman Bucks.