Basketball Game Preview: West Florida Jaguars vs. Fort Walton Beach Vikings

West Florida hasn't had much luck against Fort Walton Beach recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. The West Florida Jaguars will square off against the Fort Walton Beach Vikings at 6:00 p.m. West Florida is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 52.5 points per game this season.

On Wednesday, West Florida needed a bit of extra time to put away Pensacola Catholic. They secured a 56-52 W over the Crusaders.

Brayden Justice continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 7 for 13 on his way to 24 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 15.4 points per game. Another player making a difference was Kayleb Johnson, who posted ten points.

West Florida smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in four consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Fort Walton Beach came up short against Niceville on Friday and fell 66-56. The Vikings have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Fort Walton Beach now has a losing record at 9-10. As for West Florida, their win bumped their record up to 8-10.

West Florida lost to Fort Walton Beach on the road by a decisive 67-48 margin in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Fort Walton Beach's Rodric Starks, who went 9 of 17 en route to 21 points and eight boards. Now that West Florida knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.