Freeport Bulldogs pound South Walton

The Freeport Bulldogs were firing on all cylinders Wednesday night beating the South Walton Seahawks 61-43 in girls varsity basketball action at the Hawks Nest.

“I’m surprised we got up and down the floor as good as we did,” said Freeport Coach Mike Myrick, noting his team was coming off an overtime victory over Chipley the night before to clinch their district.

“But they got out there and played,” he said.

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“And if you’re running up and down the floor with us, that’s what we like whether we’re tired or not.”

The Bulldogs didn’t look very tired as they ran up and down the floor firing off shot after shot, with the Katie and Megan O’Neal hitting 20 points each.

“It’s almost automatic,” for this team to fire away, Myrick said.

“It’s just fun to watch. There’s no coaching involved … nothing I can do,” he added.

“They do make me mad when they don’t run an offense. Other than that, that’s about it. But if that’s the only thing that makes me mad I’m OK with it.”

The Bulldogs like to shoot the long shot. Megan O’Neal drained five 3-pointers, while sister Katie hit two. Laura Ham nailed two 3s and Martha Freeman, one.

After a 45-minute delay getting started due to officials, the first quarter went quick with both teams running up and down the floor. Megan O’Neal struck first with a 3-pointer and Devany Beard followed with an inside shot. South Walton got on the board with a couple of free throws from Shannon Cole and a 3-pointer from Savanah Hiers, who finished with 10 pionts, to tie the game. The scoring went back and forth with Katie and Megan O’Neal, along with Hiers for the Seahawks swishing 3s. The Bulldogs finished the period up 18-16.

In the second quarter, Freeport left the Seahawks behind reeling off 17 unanswered points. Megan O’Neal made eight points, and Ham nailed a couple of 3s in the run. South Walton finally got a shot to fall in the last three minutes when Gracie Ricci drove in for a layup. Freeport made one more shot, then South Walton’s Ashlyn Sachenbacher hit a couple of free throws followed by a steal and a layup by Ricci. Cole scored then Courtney Chesser, who finished the night with 10 points, knocked down a 3-pointer for a 38-27 game at the half.

In the third quarter, Freeport continued to pull away outscoring the Seahawks 11-6. Katie O’Neal was the main contributor for the Dogs.

In the final stanza, Freeport scored 12 and South Walton 10. Chesser scored seven of the 10 for Seahawks.

Up next for South Walton is a 6:15 game at home on Jan. 23 against Arnold.

Freeport will travel to DeFuniak Springs on Jan. 20 to take on the Walton Braves.