For the high school basketball teams locally, nothing goes better with turkey than some action on the hardwood during the Thanksgiving holiday and that is how the boys’ and girls’ teams for both Ponte Vedra High and Nease High spent some of the festive week.
The Nease boys earned their first win of the young season and improved to 1-3 with a 51-42 road victory over Riverside High on Nov. 30.
It was the second straight game that the Panthers scored more than 50 points, which is something to build upon as they prepare to face the rival Sharks at home on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. It will be the first of two meetings between the two this season.
The Sharks continued their high-powered offensive ways with a convincing 74-54 road win over Daytona Beach Father Lopez on Nov. 26 to improve to 3-1.
Trace Westercamp and David Sanchez Barrera both had double-doubles in the game for the Sharks, as Westercamp had 22 points and 16 rebounds, both team-highs, while Sanchez Barrera tallied 21 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals.
In the early season, the Sharks are averaging 69 points per game, while the Panthers are only allowing 47 points per game.
This will be an interesting battle to watch when the two teams face off against each other to see which trend continues and which team is able to better force their opponent to play their style of play.
On the girls’ side of things, the Sharks and Panthers both took part in the Insider Exposure Thanksgiving Classic in Jacksonville during the week of Thanksgiving.
The Sharks suffered a pair of losses to Pompano Beach Blanche Ely, 51-26, and Ocala West Port, 53-49, while the Panthers split their two matchups during the tournament by winning a 29-23 defensive battle against Glynn Academy of Brunswick, Georgia and falling 45-25 to Camden County High of Kingsland, Georgia.
Arden Doherty and Jocelyn Hoffmann combined for all but 10 of the 49 points scored by the Sharks in the loss to Ocala West Port.
Sophomore guard Audrey Rollins led the way scoring for the Panthers with 23 points and five three-pointers made in the two games during the tournament.
