The Ponte Vedra High boys basketball team came so close to winning a state title, but they had to settle for another runner-up, this time in Class 5A as they fell to class No. 1 Pompano Beach Blanche Ely 44-38 in the state championship in Lakeland on March 7.
In many ways, the fact of even settling for a state runner-up finish signifies where the Sharks’ program is at currently after making it to their fourth straight final four and having played in the title game three of the four years.
The majority of high schools in the state can only dream of a run like the Sharks have had over the past four seasons and it is not diminished at all just because they were not able to end with a win in any of those trips.
The Sharks have built the equivalent of high school basketball dynasty and have knocked plenty of marquee teams off along the way.
Not to mention that they have done it with different coaches and competing in different classes, but none of that has even seemed to faze the Sharks and the culture that has been instilled first under former head coach Kevin Whirity and then the last three years under Ben Wilson.
After the Sharks grabbed the lead at the end of the first quarter, they trailed by an unusually low score of 16-12 at halftime, as both teams knew they were in for a defensive slugfest.
However, the difference in the game proved to be the third quarter, as the Tigers came alive offensively and outscored the Sharks 19-10 to open a 31-26 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
That run by the Tigers proved too tough for the Sharks to come back from as the Tigers looked to maintain possession and let the time that was left on the clock slowly melt away with each trip down the court.
Despite the Tigers’ efforts, the Sharks did make the most of their chances as junior Maddox Palmer helped pull the Sharks to within two points after he converted a four-point play after getting fouled on a three-pointer late in the game.
He finished with 17 of his game-high 20 points coming in the second half.
Senior guard David Sanchez Barera tallied 14 points in the final game of his high school career and junior Trace Westercamp added four points, as only three Sharks scored on the night.
The Sharks wrapped up the year with a record of 22-9.
