Fort Walton Beach is 3-0 against Ponce De Leon since December of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Fort Walton Beach Vikings will head out on the road to face off against the Ponce De Leon Pirates at 6:15 p.m. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Monday, Fort Walton Beach was able to grind out a solid victory over Navarre, taking the game 42-34. Given Fort Walton Beach's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 72nd, while Navarre is ranked 238th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Fort Walton Beach got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was SaRuan Newton out in front who scored 12 points. Taniha Higgins was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
Meanwhile, Ponce De Leon had already won 11 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 25.3 points), and they went ahead and made it 12 on Saturday. They blew past Central 58-34. Ponce De Leon has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 matches by 21 points or more this season.
The win makes it two in a row for Fort Walton Beach and bumps their season record up to 12-7. As for Ponce De Leon, they pushed their record up to 16-1 with that victory, which was their 16th straight at home.
Fort Walton Beach strolled past Ponce De Leon in their previous meeting back in January of 2023 by a score of 55-39. The rematch might be a little tougher for Fort Walton Beach since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
