Lady Bulldogs down Niceville in tournament opener

CRESTVIEW – The District 2-6A girls basketball tournament opened Monday night with No. 4 seed Crestview hosting fifth seed Niceville for the right to play top seed Choctawhatchee in the tournament semifinals at Mosley on Friday.

And to the delight of the home fans it was the Bulldogs who advanced with a 49-35 win. Fittingly, Crestview avenged a loss from a year ago when the Eagles eliminated the Bulldogs from the tournament.

Crestview (14-9) got an early basket from Jensis Coleman less than a minute into the game and never trailed.

Coleman’s basket was followed by scores from Jasmine Middleton, Solo Pride and Malia Gandy as the Bulldogs opened up an early 7-0 lead.

The Eagles, who end the season with a 5-21 record, finally got on the scoreboard with 2:57 left in the first quarter when Dani Douglas hit a pair of free throws. An Aubrey West free throw cut the Bulldog lead to 7-3, but Erica Herman scored for Crestview with 12 seconds left in the quarter to push the Bulldog lead back to six points.

Niceville continually battled back throughout the game cutting into a large Bulldog lead and closing to with three or four points only to see the momentum swing back to Crestview.

A basket by Middleton with 3:12 left in the second quarter put the Bulldogs up 17-9 and they appeared ready to run away with the game, but Niceville clawed back into the game holding Crestview scoreless the rest of the half. Amanda Demma, Michaela Mitchell and Douglas scored for the Eagles in the final three minutes of the second quarter to cut the Bulldog lead to a basket at 17-15.

With less than a second left in the half, Demma had a chance to tie the game with a pair of free throws, but she missed them both as the Bulldogs survived the Niceville run.

As was the case in the first half, the third quarter started with quick scores by Crestview followed by a counter punch from he Eagles.

A Jaci Hodskins basket with 6:28 left in the third pulled Niceville to within a point with the score 20-19.

Crestview proceeded to go on a 9-0 run that ended with a 3-pointer by Holly Stanford.

A Douglas score 20 seconds into the fourth quarter once again had the Eagles to within a basket with the scored 31-29. But back-to-back baskets by Crestview’s Arianna Simms sparked an 11-0 Bulldog run to put the game out of reach.

“Any time you beat Niceville it’s a good thing,” Stanford said. “It was a good thing that we all came together and won our last home game and are going on to face Choctaw and hopefully we will make it to the playoffs this year.

“This has definitely been a building season and we’ve had our ups and downs, but hopefully we can pull it out (beat Choctaw and make the playoffs).”

Coleman led the Bulldogs with 10 points. Stanford and Simms each scored seven.

Mitchell paced the Eagles with eight points and Douglas added seven points.