Bench play sparks Niceville boys over Choctawhatchee

NICEVILLE — Facing a hostile crowd and a surging Niceville team, the Choctawhatchee boys basketball team could have folded. Instead, the Indians answered with a surge of their own and made the Eagles use almost all 32 minutes to seal their win.

In the end, the resilient Indians came up short, as the Eagles pulled out a 85-70 victory on Friday night.

Hunter Curtis knocked down four 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 17 points, Steve Dyson added 16 and Kirk Perry chipped in with 15 for Niceville (21-3), which had trouble putting the Indians (9-10) away at several points during the game, as Choctaw showed plenty of moxie. The Indians trailed by just three points at halftime before Niceville got a much-needed boost from its bench.

“We were very resilient,” Niceville coach Jerome Strutchen said. “We didn’t panic. Not one time this year have I seen my team hang its head. I was happy with that.”

Reserves Kyle Koszuta, John DeLoach and A.J. Tillman combined to score 10 points off the bench in the third quarter for Niceville to help the Eagles pull ahead by seven before the start of the fourth. Overall, the Eagles finished with 23 points off the bench.

That start of the fourth quarter signaled a turning point for both teams. Niceville started the fourth with a 9-0 run as Koszuta added seven more points off the bench, and Matt Cooper buried a big 3-pointer to put the Eagles up 55-41.

“That run to start the fourth quarter really hurt us,” Choctaw coach Marc Tisza said. “We answered them, but that just shows how good this Niceville team is.”

Choctaw’s answer was impressive, given how demoralizing Niceville’s fourth-quarter run seemed. Behind Raymond Johnson’s nine fourth-quarter points, the Indians cut the deficit to as small as six points. But Niceville had enough left in the tank to finish Choctaw off.

Perry scored eight points in the fourth quarter and Kody Williams made some clutch free throws to close out the game.

“(Choctaw’s) record is not indicative of how good that team is,” Strutchen said. “It’s becoming apparent that we understand the game. We’ve been playing hard, and that’s the key.”