Make it two years in a row now for the Ponte Vedra High boys basketball team, continued their memorable run with a second straight trip to Class 6A state championship game in Lakeland on March 4.
The Sharks secured their spot in the title game following a 63-41 romp over Wekiva in the state semifinal in Lakeland.
Despite coming up short in the end with a 51-40 defeat against Dwyer (29-1), finishing runner-up in the state back-to-back years is an accomplishment that will be remembered for some time within the basketball program.
The Sharks entered the championship playing their best basketball all season and looking the part in their semifinal win over Wekiva.
Sam Ritchie was hotter than the current Florida weather as he put on a shooting performance for the ages.
The 6-foot-1 junior scored a career-high 34 points, the fourth highest point total in a game in school history.
He was a perfect 12-12 from the field, including a program record eight three-pointers, before he finally missed a shot late in the second half.
Ritchie scored 26 points in the first half, which was six more than the entire Wekiva team scored in that half.
The Sharks put the semifinal out of reach early as they played nearly flawless basketball and had only five team turnovers when they entered the fourth quarter with an incredible 30-point lead, 55-25.
The Sharks won with ease despite their leading scorer on the season, Israel Nuhu, on the bench for much of the game with early foul trouble.
First year head coach Ben Wilson got a big lift from Nuhu’s replacement, 6-foot-5 junior Tyler Cowan, a starter early in the season for the Sharks before he came down with an illness during the holiday break.
Cowan was a force defensively as he had four rebounds and two blocked shots while chipping in five points.
Senior playmaker Nate Bunkosky, the regional 6A MVP, was the conductor for the Sharks’ offense with his usual steady floor game as he finished with seven points and six assists and completely locked down Wekiva’s leading scorer on the season, K.J. Robinson, who finished with four points.
The six assists gave Bunkosky 191 on the season, surpassing the former season assist high of 187 held by Jackson Johnson from the 2013-14 season.
The Sharks battled Dwyer after they clinched a spot in the semifinals with a 52-39 victory over Wharton.
There is only one team that gets to hoist the trophy at the end of each season, and although the Sharks were not that team this year, it does not take away anything from the incredible run for the squad and the number of obstacles and challenges they had to overcome along the way to knock on the door of a state title two years in a row.
For seniors Bunkosky, Ty Clarke, Nuhu, Jack Gore, Ben Ritchie and Darius Ferraro, the last two years will be among their sweetest memories they will look back on from their times in high school.
