The Niceville Eagles entered their tilt with the Gulf Breeze Dolphins with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. Niceville skirted past Gulf Breeze 56-53. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory Niceville has posted since December 2, 2023.
Niceville's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Anna Kimball led the charge by scoring 20 points along with five rebounds and three blocks. The team also got some help courtesy of Kiyah Hatcher, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Gulf Breeze's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Piper Tieman, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 12 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Tieman has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Lila Jacobs, who scored 15 points along with nine rebounds and four steals.
Niceville is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-4 record this season. As for Gulf Breeze, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 12-5.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Niceville and Pace will face off at 6:30 p.m. on January 18th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Pace is coming into the contest hot, having won their last four games. As for Gulf Breeze, they will head out on the road to take on Crestview at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Crestview focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 last Monday.
