Ponte Vedra Sharks Boys Basketball

Sharks Reload for Upcoming Basketball Season

Nov 8, 2016

One would be led to believe, that after losing 3 starters and an abnormally large group of graduating seniors, the prospects for yet another successful season for Ponte Vedra basketball would not be in the cards.

However, optimism breathes eternal for veteran coach Bud Beech, who is itching to once again lead the Sharks roundballers from the bench after taking a couple of years off while overseeing Ponte Vedra basketball as a quasi-general manager of sorts.

Although this year’s edition of Ponte Vedra basketball will be missing their entire front line from the previous season, a bevy of talented newcomers from last year’s outstanding Junior Varsity should provide a very athletic look for the 2015-16 school year.

Beech is concerned however, with only 2 players returning from last year’s rotation, it will be a learning experience for the 10 underclassmen. “Despite the fact we had a very good JV team last year it’s going to be a big transition for these guys,” said Beech who returns as an active coach after a career that has spanned some 30 years, posting more than 450 victories  at Nease High and Ponte Vedra.

Two starters return from last year’s varsity, winners of 17 games, that was surprisingly ousted in it's opening playoff game by Menendez. The Sharks played shorthanded in their loss to their St. John County rivals as high scoring senior forward Quinn Carey was battling the flu bug, and defensive stopper Matt Johnson was so ill, that he made but a  brief appearance in the shocking defeat.

When asked if this year’s style of play will be different from last year’s squad Coach Beech replied: “We will play hard and we will play fast and I think we will have a well balanced team this season.”  

Beech added that unlike past Shark teams that featured go to players that could be counted on to score 20 points a game (Beau Beech in 2011-12, Jackson Johnson in 2013-14, and Quinn Carey from last years unit), this year’s team will be much more balanced according to Beech.  “Instead of relying on one guy to put up 25 points I feel we have a number of players on any given night that can score by committee, so to speak, 15 or more points.”

Returning as starters from last year’s squad are Senior guard Matthew Johnson and Junior swingman JD Pirris.  Both players have shown tremendous improvement during the off season and will certainly be called upon by Beech to play major roles for the Sharks.

One possible roadblock if the Sharks are to improve upon their 2014-15 won/loss record is their strength of schedule, easily the toughest schedule in school history.

Replacing a RIdgeview team that was woefully short on talent from a year ago, Beech showed little fear by scheduling a pair of perennial powerhouse fives, defending state D3 champion Providence and a Bolles team that may be their best squad in school history.

Other non-district opponents include their time-honored St. Johns County clashes with Bartram Trail, Creekside, St. Augustine and Nease as well as contests with a pair of other traditional cage powers in Bishop Kenny, Mandarin and Baker County. “I think we become better basketball players by playing good basketball teams,” added Beech with an eye towards making a productive post-season run.

Beech’s biggest challenge will be replacing his veteran front line of 6’4 Quinn Carey,  6’5 Donovan Garrard, and  6’4 Ross McCarthy.  Carey and Garrard were 3-year starters for the Sharks while McCarthy was a two year regular.

Although the current Sharks will field a smaller lineup, Beech has high hopes for this year’s young team.  "I believe we will have a well balanced team featuring some good out court shooters and a number of skilled ball handlers that will makes some threes,” summed up a confident Beech.

Last years team was composed of as many as 19 players, with 14 of those squad members seniors. 

When asked if it may not have been in the best interest for the program to have an unusually high total of players on last year’s roster, Beech was quick to point out:  “I don’t regret for one minute to have all those kids on the team last year.  With a 12 man roster certainly it will be easier on the coach in practices this season, but I think those kids last year were very appreciative for being on the team and they were really good kids who didn’t gripe about their lack of playing time.”

Only Johnson and Pirris return from last year’s team that were in the Shark rotation, but there is little question that many of the Junior Varsity Players will prove to be more than adequate to replace those lost through graduation or transfer. 

However, the Sharks will have to wait before  the talented Pirris, the leading receiver on the Shark’s playoff bound football team,  takes the court.  “We will miss JD but we know what he can do,” said Coach Beech.   “We play a 27-28 game schedule so we know he will be with us for the majority of the season.  In the meantime I’m just happy to go out to the football field and watch him catch all those passes. On a positive note, until he returns, somebody is going to enjoy getting some of his minutes that hopefully will translate into a better player.”

The current Ponte Vedra squad will count on receiving some major help from last year’s outstanding JV team. After starting the season with a pair of narrow defeats, the Shark JV’s would go on to win 20 of their next 22 games to finish the season with a spectacular 20-4 record.  Many of those players will be vying for valuable playing time during the forthcoming season.

Beech however cautioned: “Despite the fact we had a very good JV team last year it’s still going to be a big transition for these youngsters.”

Diminutive guard Michael Nicandri will bring to the Sharks many of the ball handling skills PVHS fans witnessed when 4 year starter Jackson Johnson was starring for the Sharks. Nicandri, and Jackson’s younger brother Matt, each possess ball handling skills that will make it difficult for the opposition to apply full court pressure on the Sharks.

Sure to see plenty of action this year will be front court players Easton Hensley and Lance Kren.  Although Kren played down in the low post for the JVs, the 6’2 junior has refined his game over the summer with some much improved out court shooting.  The 6’2 Hensley is another player who has blossomed over the off-season and will give the Sharks some much needed athleticism up front.

Beech is hopeful that he has a ‘Diamond in the Rough’ in 6’6 sophomore Jack Johnson.  Not only does Johnson give the Sharks front court height, but also has a wing span far wider than his 6’6 stature. Beech spoke  highly of the still growing sophomore.  “We will not bring a sophomore up to the varsity unless we expect to give him a lot of minutes,” and that certainly appears to be the case for Johnson.  I think you’re going to see Jack be our shot blocker this season and provide us as a much needed rebounder.”

Ross McCarthy’s younger brother Dean should also help in the Shark front line while 6’0 Chris Tomacewski is a very athletic performer who could serve a similar role as that served by Pat Boylan from the 2014 squad.

Clay Welch has displayed noticeable improvements from his brief appearances from last year’s Shark squad and could move quickly into the rotation.  Completing this year’s 12 player roster include Jack Shannon, an outstanding shooter who could serve as a designated zone buster, and a pair of newcomers, Cole Martin and Spencer Turner.

Coach Beech, as well as Shark fans can get an early glimpse of this year’s Shark squad with a pair of pre-season games this week at the Shark Tank.  Matanzas will tip it off against the Sharks on Monday (Nov 9) while a very talented Orange Park five will give the Sharks a stern test on Thursday night  (Nov 12).  Both games will begin at 7:30 PM following 6:00 PM varsity contests by other local teams.

The Sharks will begin their regular season with a home opener vs. St. Augustine on November 17th  with the varsity game to follow the 6:00 PM Junior Varsity contest.

 

Shark’s rally against Creekside to avoid sweep

Nov 22, 2016

After a heartbreaking overtime loss in their season opener to St. Augustine, and an expected defeat on the road to one of the nation’s top teams, the Sharks avoided being swept by rallying to defeat an undefeated and much improved Creekside team Friday night 67-63.

A large and enthusiastic crowd, mostly from a loyal student body turnout from host Creekside, shouted in glee as their beloved Knights came out on fire and raced to an early 22-13 first quarter lead before the Sharks began to settle down.

The Sharks tightened up their defense in the second quarter and cooled off the hot shooting Knights by outscoring Creekside 12-8, cutting the Knights lead down to a more manageable 5 point advantage heading into the halftime break.

The lone senior that saw action during the contest, Matthew Johnson, and junior JD Pirris then combined to score 27 second half points as Ponte Vedra outscored Creekside 42-33 to earn a well-deserved 67-63 victory. Johnson would finish with 19 points on the evening with Pirris adding 18.

Veteran head coach Bud Beech received some outstanding clutch play from juniors Dean McCarthy and Mike Nicandri during the fiercely fought contest.

McCarthy chipped in with nine points off the bench while Mike Nicandri came up with some huge plays in the final four minutes of play to help the Sharks post their first victory of the young season. 

With Creekside applying some tenacious pressure defense, Nicandri's superior ball handling skills forced the Knights to foul, and Mike made them pay as he was a perfect 6 for 6 from the line in crunch time. Nicandri, who finished with a career high 12 points, helped improve the team’s  free  throw percentage from their previous two games to a much better mark of 16 out of 22 from the stripe. 

The victory helped atone for their disappointing opening loss to St. Augustine on Tuesday that the Yellow Jackets won in overtime 72-68. The never say die Sharks fought back after trailing by as many as 19 points in the second quarter to send the game into an over time session.  It looked like the Sharks might have had victory in their grasp when Matt Johnson converted a steal into a layup basket to give the Sharks a two-point lead with but 0:12 seconds remaining in the contest.

However, St. Augustine’s Ryan Burkhardt, who poured in a game high 31 points, netted a 15 footer moments later to send the game into overtime.  Contributing immeasurably to the Sharks defeat was their poor 9-19 shooting from the free throw line.

Once again Pirris and Johnson led the Sharks in scoring with 21 and 19 points respectively, while Eston Hensley chipped in with 11.

Thursday evening the Sharks ran into an all-star team from Bolles that started a lineup of 6’10, 6-9, 6’6, 6’5 and 6’1 and completely outclassed the Shark lineup made up of players exclusively from the 32082 area code.  The much smaller and youthful Sharks had no answer for the Bulldogs 6’10 center Collin Smith.  The George Washington University signee tossed in 28 points, many of them coming on thunderous dunks to lead all scorers.  

Making it even more painful was that the Bulldogs second leading scorer, 6’9 Jonathan Dewane, attended Landrum Middle School before transferring to Bolles.

The Sharks will take the road for the third straight game to nearby Mandarin to take on the Division 8 Mustangs on Tuesday evening before taking the rest of the Thanksgiving Holiday off.

Tuesday’s game is scheduled for a 7:00 PM tip off, following the Junior Varsity contest between the two schools that starts at 5:30 PM.

 

PV Takes two game winning streak into busy week

Nov 27^th, 2016

Ponte Vedra’s young varsity basketball team played but one game during Thanksgiving Week but it was one that rewrote the record book.

In a race horse game at Mandarin on Tuesday, November 24, the Sharks poured in a school record 89 points in their victory over Mandarin, shattering the former mark of 79 points set in the 2011-12 season in a win over Bartram Trail.

The Sharks needed every one of those points as Mandarin netted 86 in a tightly contested game that saw neither team take a lead at anytime wider than a slim five point margin.

The Sharks trailed the host Mustangs by two points, 47-45 following a high scoring first half of action. The Mandarin lead again remained at 2 at 67-65 heading into the final hectic quarter of play.

The third quarter turned into a scoring duel between the Sharks Matthew Johnson and Mandarin’s Jeff Coulages as the pair scored a combined 24 points, Coulages 13 and Johnson 11.

Neither team was able to pull away from one another in the final stanza.  Shark guard Mike Nicandri drilled a 3 pointer from the corner to give PVHS a slim 82-81 lead with 3:10 left to play.  Mandarin continued their uncanny out court shooting and moved out to a three point lead at 85-82 before JD Pirris hit a driving layup to pull the Sharks within one at 85-84.  

Following a missed Mandarin free throw, Ponte Vedra’s 6’7 sophomore center Jack Johnson rebounded a missed Shark field goal attempt and scored to give his team a 86-85 lead with but 0:27 remaining in regulation.

The Mustangs Coulages, made one out of two free throws with 20 seconds remaining in the contest to knot the score at 86-86.  It looked like this game was headed for overtime when JD Pirris’s shot missed the mark.  However,  his attempt was tipped back to Matt Johnson who sank a long 25 foot jumper that swished through the nets as time expired to give the Sharks a hard-earned 89-86 victory.

Interestingly enough, it was Matt Johnson’s older brother Jackson who hit a long three point shot at the end of regulation three years ago against Mandarin that sent that contest into overtime, a game in which the Sharks won in the ensuing OT period.

Matt Johnson led the Sharks in scoring with 25 points but a number of other Sharks played very well in the victory.  JD Pirris netted 22 points while Nicandri and Jack Johnson were also in double figures with 10 and 11 points respectively. Dean McCarthy came off the bench to give veteran head coach Bud Beech a big boost with 8 points.

Easton Hensley played a major role in the victory by leading the Shark rebounders with 9, added three assists, a steal and a block while committing no turnovers in a solid effort.

Jack Johnson also inserted his name into the Ponte Vedra record book by blocking 6 Mandarin shot attempts, equaling the former mark he now shares with current University of North Florida All Star Beau Beech.

The win over Mandarin improved the Sharks record to 2-2 on the season, with one of those defeats a disappointing overtime loss to St. Augustine.

The young Sharks, who have but one senior (Matt Johnson) in their 8 player rotation, have high hopes of improving their record with their busy 3 game schedule of games this week.

The Sharks first take to the road to travel to Green Cove Springs on Tuesday to face Clay Co in a district game, before taking the short jaunt up AIA the following evening to play neighboring Fletcher High in the battle of the beaches.

 

After five straight road games the Sharks hope to once again fill the Shark Tank when they host arch rival Nease on Friday, December 4, in a game that always produces an electric atmosphere.

 

SHARKS CONTINUE DISTRICT PLAY THIS WEEK

Dec 5, 2016

 

After finding success on the road, where the Ponte Vedra’s Boys Varsity Basketball Team won 4 out of the five away contests, the Sharks were confident of extending their four game winning streak when they returned to the Shark tank on Friday, December 4.

However, the energized Nease Panthers had other ideas as they completely shut down the high scoring Shark attack by employing a 3-2 zone defense in their stunning 47-40 victory over Ponte Vedra.

Playing in front a near capacity crowd that jammed the Shark tank, it was the Panthers who were able to feed off the energy from the raucous crowd while the host Ponte Vedra squad appeared very tight throughout the contest.

Both teams got off to a jittery start as a full three minutes had elapsed before either team was able to net a field goal.  The Sharks led 6-0 before the Panthers were able to get on the board with a pair of free throws with 2:44 remaining in the opening quarter.  The Panther dry spell would be their last on the evening as the Nease duo of Sam Guenther and Matt Seymour rallied the Panthers to a 21-18 lead at halftime.

The third quarter would prove fatal for the ice cold shooting Sharks as the hosts were only able to tally a minuscule five points, while Nease added a modest eleven markers to take a comfortable 32-23 lead heading into the final quarter.

The desperate Sharks were able to close the gap to five points late in the contest by employing a full court press, but cold shooting from behind the three point arc doomed the Sharks.

Ponte Vedra netted but 6 of an astounding 32 attempts from three point land as Nease’s zone defense shut off any PV inside game.  Coming into the contest the Sharks were averaging more than 62 points per game, but were thoroughly shut down by the determined Panthers.

Nease’s duo of Seymour and Guenther combined for 31 points on the evening while the two season leading scores for the Sharks, JD Pirris and Matt Johnson were limited to a combined 22 markers, far below their season average.  Pirris and Johnson managed to net only 8 of their 34 attempts from the field, including a frigid 2 for 21 from three point country.

If there was a bright light for the Sharks, it was the hustling play of junior Chris Tomacewski’s from off the bench.  Tomacewski’s intense defensive effort contributed to a number of Nease turnovers in the final quarter but his teammates were unable to take advantage due to their poor shooting.

When the final buzzer sounded with Nease on the top end of the final 47-40 score, the large throng of Nease supporters stormed the court to congratulate their beloved Panthers and their energetic, popular, and  charismatic coach Josh Bailen.

The defeat brought to a sudden and disappointing end for what had started out to be a very productive week for the Sharks.  On Tuesday, Ponte Vedra breezed to a 54-35 victory over Clay and then followed up the following day with an impressive 75-60 win over Fletcher in their annual Battle of the Beaches.

The Sharks put Clay away early with a 20-9 lead after the first quarter as Matt Johnson scored 11 of his game high 20 points.  Pirris added 14 points for the game, just half the number of points the junior would net the following evening against Fletcher when he poured in a career high 28 points.  Matt Johnson chipped in with 15 while junior Lance Kren came off the bench and netted a career high 17 points, meshing  7 of his 8 shots attempted in the contest.

The Sharks will be able to quickly atone from their stunning defeat at the hands of their arch rivals by playing a couple of important district games in the upcoming week.

On Tuesday the Sharks will host Menendez, the team that eliminated Ponte Vedra last year in the FHSAA playoffs, before traveling to Palatka  on Friday to take on a traditionally successful Panther squad.

Both varsity game are schedule to start at 7:30 PM, following a pair of Junior Varsity games that tip off at 6:00 PM.

 

SHARKS NOW 2-0 in District after win over Menendez

Dec 10^th, 2015

 

Ponte Vedra bounced back after their poorest outing of the season on Friday to overwhelm Menendez 73-43 in a district

contest played on the Sharks home court last night.

The Shark busted out to a big 10 point lead at the end of the first stop and were never challenged by a Menendez team coming off a big win on Friday against arch rival St. Augustine.

Coach Bud Beech was able to substitute freely throughout the game and even his second five was able to outscore the Falcons in the second period to take double the score over the visitors 32-16 at the break.

The Sharks high scoring duo of Matt Johnson and JD Pirris then led PVHS to a convincing 26-11 edge in the third period by combining for 17 of the Sharks tallies.

Matt Johnson led all scorers with 20 points with his teammate Pirris close behind with 18 markers.  Mike Nicandri was also in double figures for the winners by adding 10 points as 10 Ponte Vedra cagers dented the scoring column.

The victory moves the Sharks to  5-3 overall on the season and a perfect 2-0 in district competition.

The Sharks will next journey to Palatka on Friday in yet another district counting game.

 

 

 

PALATKA RALLY PREVENTS SHARK SWEEP

Dec 12^th, 2015

With just one quarter of play left in last week’s final contest, it appeared the Sharks were well on their way to a two game week’s sweep and a perfect 3-0 record in district play.

However, the Palatka Panthers spoiled that idea by unleashing a furious fourth quarter rally against a Sharks team that ran out of gas in the games final moments in downing the Sharks 62-55.

Ponte Vedra, in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, enjoyed a whopping 16 point lead, only to see the Panthers tally 31 fourth quarter points while holding the Sharks to but 10.

It was a disappointing ending to what had all the earmarks of a nice bounce back week after the Sharks pummeled Menendez Tuesday in a district contest 73-43.

The convincing 30 point victory over Menendez helped  atone somewhat for the Panther’s upset victory over the Sharks in last season’s opening playoff game that prevented the Sharks from advancing into the regionals.

The Shark busted out to a big 10 point lead at the end of the first stop and were never challenged by the Menendez team that was coming off a big win against arch rival St. Augustine.

Coach Bud Beech was able to substitute freely throughout the game and even his second five was able to outscore the Falcons in the second period to double the score over the visitors 32-16 at the halftime break.

The Sharks high scoring duo of Matt Johnson and JD Pirris then led PVHS to a convincing 26-11 edge in the third period by combining for 17 of the Sharks tallies.

Matt Johnson led all scorers with 20 points with his teammate Pirris close behind with 18 markers.  Mike Nicandri was also in double figures for the winners by adding 10 points as 10 Ponte Vedra cagers dented the scoring column.

The Friday night loss to the Panthers, in a game where the venue was changed from the high school to nearby St. Johns River College, the Sharks were doomed by poor free throw shooting and numerous turnovers.

After turning the ball over but 7 times in Tuesday’s win over Menendez, the Sharks tripled that figure with a whopping 21 giveaways to the relentless Panthers. Shooting a woeful 6 of 17 from the charity stripe also contributed to the Shark collapse.

Although he failed to score during the contest, the Shark’s were also hurt when their 6’7 sophomore shot blocking machine, Jack Johnson, had his minutes limited in the game when he got into early foul trouble.  Johnson’s final 5th foul was converted into a Panther free throw with 2:49 left in regulation that gave the hosts their first lead of the game at 53-52.

The Sharks were held scoreless for the final four minutes of the final quarter, until they made a meaningless last second shot at the buzzer to make the final score 62-55.

JD Pirris led the Sharks in scoring with 14 points with Matt Johnson the other Shark in double figures with 10.  Matt Johnson, although far off form from the field did contribute 8 assists and 5 steals in a losing cause while committing but 2 of the PVHS 21 turnovers.

The Sharks will have a full week’s of practice this week before hosting Bartram Trail on Friday night.  Coach Beech is hoping that the Sharks can improve their shooting before they face the always tough Bartram Trail five.  As a team the Sharks are shooting a poor 55% from the free throw line and an equally woeful 25% from behind the 3 point arc, well below percentages obtained from the Shark teams from the previous two seasons.  

It should be duly noted that this is a squad dominated with underclassmen, with Matt Johnson the only senior in Beech’s current 8 man rotation.  Matt is averaging 16 points a game with a very efficient 63% on two point attempts. 

In addition to the scoring of JD Pirris (17 ppg,), Beech is confident that he will continue to see improvement from his sophomore center Jack Johnson, especially in the scoring department. Junior front court performer Eston Hensley has gone from a back-up performer on last year’s junior varsity to a solid contributor to this year’s varsity five with his rebounding and court presence, committing only 4 turnovers on the season. 

Rounding out the Shark starting five, diminutive guard Mike Nicandri has given the Sharks some solid play after the first 9 games of the season. Nicandri chipped in with 8 points on 3 for 3 shooting from the field and committed but 2 turnovers against the tenacious Panther press.

 

 Sharks Battle to Stay Above .500

Dec 22, 2015

The up and down season for the Ponte Vedra basketball team continues, but in their latest endeavor the Sharks were definitely on the upswing following their 69-66 victory Monday night against a heralded team from the Miami area, John I. Leonard High School.

After suffering their second straight bitter defeat the previous Friday against Bartram Trail, and playing without two of their regular performers who left on family vacations, the Sharks played perhaps their best game of the season in their upset of John Leonard.

 

In a complete team effort, coach Bud Beech received some much needed help from his bench players to defeat the very athletic Leonard team that boasts of a student enrollment of 3300 students.

For the second straight game junior sharpshooter Jack Shannon, who was a seldom used reserve on last years Junior Varsity team, once again was sizzling from the field as he totaled 17 points, including nailing 5 shots from beyond the three point mark.  During his two game hot streak, Shannon has connected on 11 of 19 three point attempts.

And needing a boost from off his bench, veteran head coach Bud Beech called on normal starting forward Easton Hensley to give the Sharks a much needed spark.  However, even Beech had to be pleasantly surprised in Hensley’s remarkable play in the win over Leonard.

After the Sharks took a 40-32 lead after scoring the first five points in the second half, John Leonard went on a 12-0 run to recapture the lead and seemingly had the game secured.  However —- enter Hensley.  

In a brief span of five minutes in the second half, Hensley scored the next 14 PVHS points, one more point than he had tallied in the last four games combined! Hensley’s final basket of the game, a 3 pointer with 5:15 left in the game, gave the Sharks an eight point lead at 59-51. A Matt Johnson 3 pointer than gave the Sharks their biggest lead of the contest, 62-53 with 4 minutes remaining.

It remained a nine point lead less than a minute later when Jack Shannon scored on a lay up after a full court pass from Johnson.  John Leonard than cut the margin down to four after a pair of steals and converted baskets before the confident Shannon nailed a gutsy three pointer with 2:10 left to give the Sharks a seemingly insurmountable 69-59 lead.

 

Forced to foul, the Sharks went stone cold at the free throw line, missing three front ends of 1 and 1 free throw tries.  With :08 remaining, and the once 10 point lead now down to but three, the Sharks missed two straight free throws that gave John Leonard life at the end.  Fortunately for the Shark faithful, a long three point attempt was off the mark and Easton Hensley pulled down his eighth rebound of the game to secure the victory.

Hensley and Shannon topped the Sharks scorers with 17 points each, but this victory could be classified as a total team triumph with huge contributions from all the 10 players who saw action in the heated contest.

Clay Welch, before getting into foul trouble, netted a pair of big three pointers in the winning cause.  Spencer Turner came up with three offensive rebounds and a pair of baskets to aid in the Shark first quarter comeback after falling behind 15-6.  

The victory was accomplished without having to depend on the scoring of their normal high point makers, JD Pirris and Matt Johnson.  However, both players played prominent roles in the victory.  Johnson scored 12 points, and added a team high six assists, while Pirris, although held to but 6 points, the junior standout played a fine overall game for the victors by consistently breaking the Leonard tenacious  full court press with his ball handling skills, committed but two turnovers, and chipped in with 6 rebounds.

The victory was the first of three games that the Sharks were to play in the St. Augustine Holiday Classic.  Monday’s victory advanced the Sharks into the second round where they will play state ranked Bolles Tuesday (Dec. 22) at 6:00 PM>  The Bolles/Ponte Vedra winner/loser will play the winner/losers of the other bracket in a championship or third place clash on Wednesday to cap off the St. Augustine Holiday Classic.

Monday’s surprising win over John Leonard took away some of the sting from the previous Friday’s loss to Bartram Trail. The final score of 71-54 was no where near indicative of how close this game was over the entire 32 minutes.

The Sharks trailed by only a single point into the fourth quarter before the Bears slammed the door on the Sharks with a 24-10 fourth quarter run. The loss tarnished the 18 point performance by Jack Shannon, with all of his points coming on 6 made 3 pointers.

 

 

SHARKS ENJOY WINNING RECORD AT HALFWAY POINT OF SEASON

Dec 27^th, 2015

After losing  virtually their entire roster due to graduations and transfers, one could virtually paint a bleak future for this season’s Ponte Vedra boys basketball team.

However, after an impressive third place finish at the recent St. Augustine Holiday Classic, this 2015-16 very young Shark team will take a winning record into the season’s second half.

The Sharks won their opener on Dec. 21 against John I. Leonard High School, a huge 8A school with a student population over 3300, 69-66. The following night the Sharks once again had to face a powerful Bolles team, but had no answer for the gigantic Bolles starting five and fell 64-39.

Playing with some extra incentive against the host St. Augustine Yellowjackets, who stunned the Sharks in overtime in the season opener on November 17, the Sharks atoned for that earlier defeat by topping St. Augustine 51-47.

With a winning record of 7 wins against 6 defeats against some very tough competition, the Sharks will quickly jump back into action with their second Holiday tournament beginning Monday afternoon at 4:00 PM when they play Deland High School in the first round of the Clay Co. Classic.

Following Monday’s contest with Deland, the Sharks will resume action Tuesday (Dec 29) and Wednesday (Dec 30) at Clay High School against teams that will be determined by how they fare in early action.

Ponte Vedra captured third place honors, despite missing a couple of players from their normal rotation but coach Bud Beech received some much needed help from some of his reserves who undoubtably have earned additional playing time as the season moves forward.

As early as game one against John I. Leonard, all 16 of Ponte Vedra’s first quarter points  were scored by players that were starting their first game of the season.

Jack Shannon, for the second straight game,  continued his sizzling out court shooting from long range by canning three 3 pointers in the games first eight minutes, with Chris Tomacewski and Spencer Turner supplying the rest of the Shark tallies.

However, it looked bleak for the Sharks when they trailed by as many as 10 points midway through the second quarter before the Sharks went on a 14-0 run to completely turn the game's momentum their way.   Another reserve, Clay Welch, came off the bench to fire in a couple of long range 3 pointers as the Sharks rallied to take the lead 35-32 at halftime.

John I. Leonard would not wilt and went on a 14-0 run before the tide changed in favor of the Sharks.

It was at this point that junior Shark forward Easton Hensley put together an incredible stretch of basketball that saw him score the next 14 points for Ponte Vedra, as the Sharks rallied to lead by a slim 52-51 margin heading into the game's final eight minutes.

After building a seven point lead with 2 minutes remaining in the game,  the Sharks made it more than interesting in the game's closing moments as they missed five free throws to prevent the locals from pulling away.

After the Shark's missed two free throws with :08 remaining, Leonard had a chance to tie the game, but a long shot missed the mark and Hensley pulled in his eighth rebound of the contest to secure the victory.

Hensley and Shannon shared high point marks for the victors with 17 points with Matt Johnson the other Shark in double figures with 12 points to go along with a team high 6 assists.

On Tuesday, Ponte Vedra may have been out matched against a much taller and more experienced Bolles five, but they certainly were not outworked in the Shark's 64-39 loss last night in the second round of the St. Augustine Holiday Classic.

Bolles put a starting five on the floor to begin the contest that featured five Division I players.  With 6'7 Jack Johnson on a family vacation, coach  Beech was unable to insert one player in his lineup that was taller than 6’3.

It was the second straight defeat the Sharks have suffered at the hands of one of the premier basketball teams in Florida and each time Ponte Vedra got off to a very slow start.

The Sharks had their chances against the talented Bolles squad but many of their long range bombs that found the bottom of the net on Monday, missed their mark on Tuesday.

Ironically, it was a former Ponte Vedra middle school student who did the most damage for the victors against the Sharks.  6'9 Jonathan Dewane, an Air Force commit, led all scorers with 18 points. The very athletic Dewane burned the Sharks inside and out, with a pair of three pointers and a couple of thunderous dunks.

The Sharks help defense did do a good job defending 6'10 Collin Smith, one of the area's top scorers who will be playing for George Washington University next season.  Boasting of an average of 25 points per game, Smith had to settle for 14 points against the Sharks.

Austin Williams, a 6'6 performer who will play next season for Yale had a strong game for Bolles.  The former Nease player was also in double figures for the Bulldogs, while 6'6 senior Lawrence Lorenzo added 10.

Although the Sharks were not sharp on the offensive end of the floor in their  51-47 win over St. Augustine, this game was won with an excellent defensive showing.

In the first game, won by St. Augustine in overtime 72-68, the Yellow Jackets Ryan Burkhardt destroyed the Sharks by pouring in 22 of his game high 31 points in the first half.

However, in the rematch, Burkhardt tallied but 3 points in the opening half of play and finished with but 10 markers for the game, well below his average.

Once again Coach  Beech got some admirable play from his deep bench. Beech gave the starting nod for the first time this season to a pair of juniors, Clay Welch and Spencer Turner.

Welch played a great defensive game for PVHS and also led all Shark rebounders with a game high 7 while Spencer chipped in with 6 first half points.

Beech also got a tremendous effort from another player who had seen little action on the season prior to the St. Augustine tournament — Chris Tomacewski.

Prior to the St. Augustine game, Chris had tallied but 10 points for the entire season, but he  more than matched his season total  in this game with 12 points.  

Just as in their first tournament game victory over John I. Leonard, Ponte Vedra had a seemingly secure seven point lead late in the game, only to see their failure at the free throw line once again nearly cost them victory.

A couple of Shark turnovers, as well as costly missed free throws, gave St. Augustine life, and twice the hosts had the ball trailing by two points, but each time were guilty of traveling violations.

It was not until Tomacewski nailed his two last second free throws that the Sharks could breath a sigh of relief and pull out the victory.

The two lone regulars from last years team, junior JD Pirris and senior Matthew Johnson lead the Sharks in the majority of the team statistics at the midway point of the season.  Pirris leads in points (15 ppg.) and rebounds (7 pg.) while Johnson leads to steals and assists while scoring at a 14 ppg. clip.

However, there is one stat where the Sharks must see improvement if they are to maintain their goal of finishing with a winning record.  At the free throw line the Sharks, as a team, are shooting a very poor .54%, with Pirris and Johnson collectively meshing but 58 of their combined 109 free throw attempts, well below their percentages from the preceding season.

Following the 3 game tournament at Clay County, the Sharks will return home to begin a very busy home stand in January where they will have the home court advantage in 7 of their next 9 games, including home tilts against state powers Providence and undefeated Bishop Kenny.

 

 

Sharks begin New Year With Rematch vs. Palatka

Jan 3, 2016

After placing third in a pair of Holiday tournaments, Pointe Vedra will return home Friday night with a pivotal district contest against Palatka.  The Sharks hope to atone for one of their 7 defeats, against nine victories, when they tip it off against the Panthers at 7:30 PM.

Palatka stunned the Sharks in an earlier meeting by storming from behind to hand the Sharks their lone district loss on the season, as opposed to two district victories. The Sharks had a seemingly comfortable 16 points lead in the final period only to see the Panthers employ a tenacious full court press that rattled the Sharks.

Oddly enough, Palatka’s win over PVHS has proven to be their only win in district competition as the Panthers were upset in their other meetings by a combined 3 points against Clay Co and Menendez.

Although short handed during the two Holiday tournaments with 3 players absent,  the Sharks posted wins in 4 of their 6 contests, with one of those losses coming on a last second buzzer beater at the hands of Fletcher.

The Sharks followed up their third place showing at the St. Augustine Holiday tournament as head coach Bud Beech’s squad again took consolation honors in the Blue Devil Classic at Clay County High School.

By defeating the host Blue Devils to cop third place honors, the Sharks once again defeated a host school in the process.

The Sharks had defeated St. Augustine on December 23 to avenge a season opening overtime loss to the Yellow Jackets in mid November.  However, the Sharks had the tables turned a week later when Fletcher High, a team the Sharks had defeated earlier in December  by 15 points, edged Ponte Vedra 58-55 to deprive PVHS from advancing to the finals.

Once again the Sharks could only point their finger for another of their close defeats to poor free throw shooting in their loss to neighboring Fletcher.  After enjoying a lead that had expanded at one point in the second half to 15 points, the Sharks were only able to connect on a paltry 2 of 10 free throw attempts in the final two quarters.

The Sharks opened the Blue Devil Holiday tournament in style by posting a solid 57-40 victory over Deland High School. Outscoring Deland in every quarter, the Sharks put the game away with a 13-1 run in the third quarter as Matt Johnson, who finished with a game high 18 points, scored 9 of PVHS' 13 points. 

Clay Welch and JD Pirris also scored in double figures for the winners with 11 points each, while Pirris with 9 rebounds, and Eston Hensley with 8, led the Shark rebounders.

The second round loss to Fletcher was especially painful as Ponte Vedra led throughout the entire game until Fletcher took its first lead of the game at 55-54 with just 25 seconds remaining in the contest. The Sharks were doomed with their poorest showing of the season from the free throw line as they shot a woeful 5-15 that contributed to the defeat.

Ponte Vedra’s Hensley made one of two free throws with 0:11 seconds remaining to tie the game at 55-55. However, for the second time this season, the Sharks were defeated on a buzzer beater as the Senators Tyron Bond nailed a three pointer to hand the Sharks their 7th loss of the season.

The Sharks played without 3 of their regulars, who missed the contest for personal reasons, and the short bench took an additional hit when Chris Tomacewski went out with an injury early in the first half.

Veteran head coach Bud Beech continually looked for help from his depleted bench but received no second half scoring outside his starting five. Jack Shannon tallied 12 points, Pirris 11, Matt Johnson 10 and Hensley with 9 to account for the majority of Ponte Vedra’s scoring.

In the battle for 3rd place at the Blue Devil Classic, the Sharks held off  a late fourth quarter rally by tournament host Clay Co in defeating the Blue Devils for the second time this season, 55-51.

Once again, it appeared the Sharks were going to let a comfortable lead slip away as the Blue Devils, who trailed by as many as 9, pulled to within 2 points with 0:11 seconds remaining in the contest.

Matt Johnson then hurled a full court pass, that would have made PVHS star quarterback Nick Tronti  proud, to Eston Hensley for an uncontested layup to clinch their 9th win on the season.

After missing 2 of 8 free throws in the final quarter to let a big lead slip away the preceding night against Fletcher, the Sharks hit 4 of their 5 free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.

Matt Johnson led a balanced attack with 14 points, while 3 other players were also in double figures: JD Pirris 13, Eston Hensley 11, and Jack Shannon with 10.  Johnson, named to the Blue Devil Holiday Classic All-Tournament team, also added a team high 6 assists.

The victory moves the Sharks to an overall record of 9 wins against 7 losses as they move into the New Year.  The Sharks will now enjoy a nice home stretch where they will play 7 of their remaining 9 regular season games at the Shark Tank, beginning Friday against Palatka.