Basketball Recap: Fort Walton Beach Falls Short of Ribault in the Playoffs

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Fort Walton Beach can now relate to. They came up short against the Ribault Trojans on Wednesday, falling 75-55. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 319th, while the Trojans are ranked 68th).

Xy Childres

Assists (Career)

02/12/25 vs Ribault	6
02/05/25 vs West Florida	5
01/30/25 @ Choctawhatchee	4
12/17/24 vs Crestview	4
01/18/25 vs West Florida	3

Fort Walton Beach's loss came despite a true team effort with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Xy Childres, who went 5-for-11 on his way to 13 points and six assists. The dominant performance gave Childres a new career-high in assists. Another player making a difference was Khamani Leonard, who almost dropped a double-double with 12 points and nine boards.

Childres wasn't the only one working in the assist department: Fort Walton Beach was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive games.

Kaden Toure was his usual excellent self, going 9-for-16 en route to 25 points and six rebounds for Ribault. The match was Toure's fourth in a row with at least 19 points. Jamian Jackson was another key player, going 8-for-14 to rack up 18 points and six boards.

Fort Walton Beach has been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six contests, which has put a noticeable dent in their 11-15 record this season. As for Ribault, their win bumped their record up to 19-8.

Fort Walton Beach does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Ribault, they have already played their next game, a 74-47 victory against Bishop Kenny on the 17th.