By Dylan McAdoo
The Ponte Vedra High School Sharks basketball team started their playoff run hot versus ED White High School Commanders. The Sharks went up early and never looked back. They led by a decent margin in the first half, but exploded in the second half scoring 35 points. The Sharks won big over the Commanders by a score of 61-40. It was district championship time for the Sharks, they took on the St. Augustine High School Yellow Jackets. It was the defense that did it for the Sharks. In the second quarter their defense held the Yellow Jackets to 3 points. This boosted the Sharks to a district title. Senior point guard, David Sanchez scored a combine 29 points in the two games.
“It was a great season even though we came up short, there was a lot of improvement and we grew as a team.”
Max Mracek
In the first regional game for the Sharks they took on Booker T. Washington High School Wildcats. The offense was on fire for Ponte Vedra High School scoring 22 points in the first quarter. The Sharks never looked back as their offense continued to knock down baskets. They went onto win 67-57. In the regional semifinal the Sharks took on the Gainesville High School Hurricanes. The game was even to begin as the Hurricanes had the slight lead by four points. The game turned around for the Sharks as their defense made some huge stops. At halftime the score was 27-20 in favor of the Sharks. In the third quarter the scoring was hard to come by from both teams. The fourth was completely different. Both teams exploded but it was the Sharks who got the upper hand winning by a score of 60-57. The regional final was against Leon High School Lions. The first half was a tight game both teams were playing well on both sides of the ball. The Sharks switched gears the second half knocking down all their shots. PVHS went onto win by a score 65-51, 16 points scored by Sanchez, advancing to states for the fourth straight year.
The Sharks state semifinal game was against Leesburg High School Yellow Jackets. PVHS started strong as they had the lead at half. The score was 28-19. The yellow Jackets came out firing on all cylinders grabbing the lead at the end of the third. The Sharks made a fourth quarter push and tied up the game and forced overtime. There were no points scored in the first overtime, and in the second overtime each team scored 3 points. The third overtime was different as the Sharks scored eight points and won to advance to the state finals. The state final was against the Blanche Ely High School Tigers. The first half was low scoring as the Sharks lead 16-12. The tigers exploded in the third quarter and grabbed the lead and never looked back. The Sharks fell to the Tigers in the state final by a score of 44-38. Junior small forward, Maddox Palmer had 20 points in the loss. Junior small forward, Max Mracek spoke on the season “It was a great season even though we came up short, there was a lot of improvement and we grew as a team.”
Pictured: Alex Katsikas shooting a 3 pointer. Photographed by Alex Fenney (@fenneysflics)
