Vikings suffocate Bulldogs, capture district crown (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

CRESTVIEW — After having its string of seven consecutive district championships snapped a year ago, it was back to the winner’s circle for the Fort Walton Beach girls basketball team.

As has been the case throughout the season, the Vikings proved defense wins games as they beat Crestview 46-28 to claim the District 2-5A title Saturday.

Click to view a photo gallery from the game »

“It’s awesome (regaining the district championship),” Viking coach Holly McDaniel said. “I was really proud of those girls for what they did last year to make it to that district championship game when we were probably the underdogs (to Pine Forest), but this is really sweet. This team made a mark for itself.”

While the Vikings (16-7) were making a mark in Fort Walton Beach’s storied history, the Bulldogs (10-15) were writing their names in Crestview basketball lore as they earned their first state playoff appearance since 2006.

“I’m very pleased,” senior post player Jodi Montalvo said. “This is as far as we’ve gone all of my four years here. So I’m very grateful for where we are.”

Fort Walton Beach led 11-7 at the end of the first quarter and steadily built the lead to 24-11 at the half. The Vikings held Crestview to three field goals in the first half and no field goals in the second quarter as all four Bulldog points came from the free throw line.

Kiani Parker scored seven of her nine points in the first half to pace the Vikings as six different Fort Walton Beach players scored before the break.

The Bulldogs (10-15) had what would be considered an offensive explosion in the third quarter by scoring 13 points. As was the case in Friday’s win over Mosley, Niesha Butler was the go-to player in the low post for Crestview as she scored six of her game-high 12 points in the third.

While Butler was doing it on the inside for the Bulldogs, Shaakira Mitchell was doing it from the outside for the Vikings, hitting a pair of 3-pointers that accounted for six of Fort Walton Beach’s 16 points in the third.

The teams combined for just 10 points in the fourth quarter as the Vikings went to a spread offense midway through the period and ran time off the clock to seal the win.

Mitchell and Marshaya Towner shared high-point honors for the Vikings with 11 points each.

As Mitchell and her Viking teammates celebrated the title, Mitchell knew their hard work had paid off.

“It feels wonderful to know we worked so hard,” she said. “This is like a reward, and it’s a wonderful feeling. (Last year’s second-place finish) was a real motivation. We wanted to work that much harder so we could win it this year.”

The Vikings will host District 1-5A runner up (either Milton or Pine Forest) at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Crestview will travel to the District 1-5A champion Thursday.

"I told my girls to hold their heads up, they have a lot to be proud of," Bulldog coach Donald Campbell said. "There are a lot of teams that aren’t playing now and we’ve still got another game left.

"When we started this thing in June, nobody expected us to be where we are, but we are going on to play a playoff game."