What once seemed unfathomable is looking more and more like reality: Fort Walton Beach High School is the top boys’ basketball program in Okaloosa County.
- When Coach Chris Carswell was hired in 2018, the Vikings were a program searching for an identity while Crestview and Choctawhatchee competed for state titles. Eight years later, the culture Carswell has worked tirelessly to build is finally coming to fruition.
Fort Walton Beach is 10-5, building off last year’s playoff berth — the program’s first since 2016 — and appears on track for its first winning record since 2014.
After an up-and-down 3-3 start that included a 27-point victory over a Gulf Breeze team with a winning record, the Vikings have caught fire, going 7-2 in their last nine games.
- The only losses in that stretch came against elite competition: a four-point loss at Milton, which ranks in the top 25 statewide and is the top team in the Pensacola area, and a five-point loss to Charles Henderson, a top-50 team in Alabama.
Fort Walton Beach hasn’t just beaten pushovers during this run either. The Vikings have knocked off Aiken, a top-50 team in South Carolina, and Cumberland County out of Tennessee. They’ve beaten Baker. And the cherry on top was a one-point victory at Crestview — the first time Fort Walton Beach has won on the Bulldogs’ home court since 2019.
Carswell believes this success is the product of his core’s growth, both physically and mentally, combined with chemistry built over years of playing together.
“Some of my younger guys that started out with me, they’re juniors and seniors now, so they know the ropes, they know the standard, they know the program, so now they just need to finally do it,” Carswell said. “These guys have been playing together all of their lives. They’ve played AAU together, they came in together as freshmen, and now they’re just buying in. Last year, going to the playoffs for the first time in nine years gave them a good taste of that. They want that. So now they want to get back to where they were last year, and they want to go further.”
The Vikings don’t rely on a true No. 1 option but rather a deep roster of players who complement each other. Do-it-all forward Rodric Starks is averaging 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.4 steals per game. Floor general Xy Childress adds 8.8 points, 2.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game, while Kyle Jones provides rim protection. Sean Simon and Jordan Lee offer shooting, and the bench features contributors like Leo Ivision, Christian Coley and Jatevion Jones.
When asked about the best part of this start, Carswell pointed to team chemistry.
“They’re playing together. It’s like a brotherhood,” he said.
Still, Carswell sees room for improvement, particularly in conditioning.
- “We’ve got to get in shape, because once you get out of shape, you start doing ill-advised things,” he said. “Like we can’t catch the ball. You aren’t playing defense. Being in shape can limit all those mental mistakes, and that’s what we got to cut down.”
This looks like a team that could not only make the playoffs but potentially host a first-round game. Carswell has set his sights high.
“Our goal is to be the No. 1 seed in the region,” Carswell said. “And the ceiling’s a state championship. That’s what we’re trying to do.”Time will tell if those goals are reached, but if the Vikings continue playing this way, anything is possible.
