The Fort Walton Beach Vikings pushed their score all the way to 62 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 68-62 hit to the loss column at the hands of Gulf Breeze. Fort Walton Beach has struggled against Gulf Breeze recently, as their contest on Tuesday was their eighth consecutive lost matchup.
Fort Walton Beach's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was KJ Robertson , who scored 15 points. The contest was Robertson 's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tristan Sanders, who scored 13 points.
Even though they lost, Fort Walton Beach were working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Gulf Breeze only racked up 18 assists.
Gulf Breeze was led to victory by Hutson Rowe and Trent Peak. Rowe scored 16 points along with nine rebounds and three steals, while Peak dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten assists. That's the first time this season that Rowe pulled down eight or more rebounds. Roman Jackson was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
Fort Walton Beach's loss dropped their record down to 4-7. As for Gulf Breeze, the victory (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 6-2.
Fort Walton Beach will head out on the road to face off against Pine Forest at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Gulf Breeze will finish 2023 at home by hosting Morristown-Hamblen East at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Morristown-Hamblen East presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Gulf Breeze in their respective states (Morristown-Hamblen East is ranked 21st in Tennessee, while Gulf Breeze is ranked 198th in Florida).
