Fort Walton Beach and Rocky Bayou both punched their tickets to the Sweet 16 Saturday night, with the Vikings holding off Rickards 66-63 and the Knights rallying past San Jose Prep 69-65. Both games went down to the wire, but Okaloosa County came away 2-for-2 in the opening round of the state playoffs.

Fort Walton Beach 66, Rickards 63

On Feb. 14, 2013, the Vikings defeated Pensacola 33-30 to advance to the Sweet 16. They would lose to Pine Forest the next round, beginning a long 13-year streak without a playoff victory.

That streak ended Saturday night — exactly 13 years after Fort Walton Beach boys’ basketball’s last playoff win. And in an eerie coincidence, by the exact same three-point margin of victory.

• But Saturday night’s win over Rickards was anything but easy. The Raiders gave Fort Walton Beach their biggest test since Choctaw came to the Fort on Jan. 23.

Fort Walton Beach opened the game on a 4-0 run, but Rickards quickly responded, firing off a 19-9 run that gave them a five-point lead with a minute left in the first quarter. Jatevion Jones made back-to-back layups, and after both teams hit a free throw apiece, the opening quarter ended knotted at 20.

Keilen Lyons opened the second quarter with two 3-pointers to push Rickards ahead 26-21. With momentum swinging in the Raiders’ favor, somebody needed to make a play.

Enter Xy Childres.

The senior point guard — without whom Fort Walton Beach wouldn’t have beaten Choctaw — drilled a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two. That provided a spark. Lyons missed on his next 3-point attempt, and Rodric Starks grabbed the rebound and hit Willie Coolin, who tied the game. Childres then connected on another 3-pointer, igniting a 16-9 Fort Walton Beach run that gave the Vikings a 42-35 halftime lead with control firmly in their favor.

• Both teams traded buckets to open the third quarter before entering a brief scoring drought. Memphis DeLong broke the dry spell with a layup with 5:30 remaining to put Fort Walton Beach up eight. The Vikings maintained control for the rest of the period, leading 57-48 heading into the fourth.

Childres opened the fourth quarter with a bucket that pushed the Viking lead to double digits. Davion West answered with a basket to pull Rickards back within single digits. After another scoring drought with Fort Walton Beach holding at 60-52, things took a dramatic turn.

Calvin Thomas was fouled with 2:30 left and hit one of two free throws. He then scored again with 1:45 remaining to cut the lead to five. Childres responded by sinking both free throws to make it 62-55, but Thomas hit a 3-pointer with just under a minute left to trim it to four.

• DeLong was fouled and missed both free throws. Jordan Lee was then fouled and hit one of two, making it 63-58. Lyons went to the line and sank both to make it a one-possession game.

Childres was fouled again and hit both free throws to push the lead back to four, but Thomas hit both of his free throws to cut it to one possession once more. Jones missed both free throws on a foul, and Childres hit one of two with 13 seconds left to give Rickards another chance. A wayward pass gave the ball back to Fort Walton Beach, but DeLong again missed both free throws, giving the Raiders one last shot.

Thomas’s 3-point heave that would have tied the game fell well short and into Lee’s hands, sealing the victory.

“It’s a good feeling,” Fort Walton Beach coach Chris Carswell said. “But once again, it’s something about this group. They don’t want to stop, they want to keep playing.”

Fort Walton Beach will travel to play Godby in the Sweet 16 Saturday. Godby beat Raines 64-58 Saturday night.

“It’s going to be a hostile environment,” Carswell said. “Our guys have got to be ready for it. It’ll be different from our environment, but we’re going in there to win a game.”

Rocky Bayou 69, San Jose Prep 65

The long-term outlook of the Garrett Ruppel era at Rocky Bayou continues to look better with each passing day. The Knights defeated San Jose Prep 69-65 for their first playoff win in a long time Saturday — but it took everything they had.

The Storm led at the end of the first quarter and held a 36-29 advantage heading into halftime. The second half turned into a back-and-forth battle, and the fourth quarter featured lead change after lead change.

• With 4:30 left, Rocky Bayou led 59-57, but the game was soon tied at 60. Xavier Crawford hit a free throw, but Ja’Sim Rice took the lead back for San Jose Prep.

Around the two-minute mark, Harrison Sanders hit a 3-pointer that sent Rocky Bayou’s student section into a frenzy, putting the Knights up 64-62. Calix McCune hit one of two free throws to extend the lead to three, and Crawford added a bucket to push the advantage to five.

Sam Koko answered with a 3-pointer to make it a one-possession game. McCune was then fouled and sank both free throws to make it 69-65.

San Jose Prep got another shot off, but it missed and McCune grabbed the rebound. He hit Crawford, who missed a wide-open dunk that would have put the game away. The Storm got one more look, but Denoris Young’s 3-pointer missed and Sanders secured the rebound as time expired to punch the Knights’ ticket to the Sweet 16.

Rocky Bayou will travel to Jacksonville to play Providence School Saturday. Providence School beat Bishop Snyder 67-34.