South Walton Seahawks hold on for win over Holmes

Victory almost slipped away, but the South Walton Seahawks rallied in the fourth quarter to pull off a 74-56 win over the visiting Holmes County Blue Devils Friday night in girls varsity basketball.

“We played extremely well the first half,” said South Walton Coach Kevin Craig.

At the half, South Walton was sitting on a 36-12 lead.

However, the third quarter was a different story.

The Blue Devils came out firing on all cylinders and put up 30 points, while South Walton hung in there with 16.

“There was a let down in the third,” Craig said.

Craig recalled when they played Holmes County in 2011 in the district tournament and led 32-12 in the second quarter and wound up losing the game.

“His kids never quit,” he said.

“And we lost our poise. We started playing careless.”

Allison Williams scored eight, while Laura Hartzog tossed in seven for the Blue Devils and Jacklyn Miles tossed in two 3s.

Savannah Slade was the go-to girl for the Seahawks with nine points in the third.

In the fourth quarter, South Walton changed up their defense and started making their shots.

“We went man-to-man the last five minutes of the game,” Craig said.

“That really was the difference in the game … we got them out of their rhythm,” he said.

South Walton outscored Holmes County 22-14 in the fourth for the win.

“I’m proud of them,” Craig said. “Everybody contributed whether it was a couple of minutes or a lot of minutes.

“But we needed a game like that, because we haven’t been tested,” Craig said.

For the game, Slade led the Seahawks with 27 points, while Meagan O’Neal scored 17 and Allee Coble 15.

Miles and Hartzog each scored 15 for Holmes, while Williams tossed in 13.