Ponte Vedra’s red-hot basketball team has posted a school record 12 consecutive victories following a past week that saw the Sharks sweep all three contests, including a thrilling 52-49 overtime victory over a talented Fletcher Senators squad on Friday, Jan. 14.
The victory over Fletcher was especially significant as it almost guarantees the Sharks of the top seed in a competitive district when the FHSAA plays begin in early February.
Following a pair of losses in December at the Fortegra Invitation the Sharks have shown remarkable improvement as they have outscored their opponents by an impressive 25 points per contest.
When asked what the keys to success are for this team, third-year head coach Kevin Whirity replied: “It’s their dedication to team play, both offensively and defensively, and a strong desire to want to improve on a daily basis. That, combined with their natural competitiveness, toughness and ‘hate to lose’ mentality.”
Following the winning of the championship in a major holiday tournament in Naples, the Sharks have returned to the area to post easy victories over Atlantic Coast, Bishop Kenny, Stanton Prep and Wolfson before Friday’s all-important matchup at Fletcher.
It was a battle of a couple of heavyweight basketball powers and the game certainly lived up to its billing. It took more than the standard four quarters to decide a winner as it took an additional four-minute overtime session before the Sharks could pull off the victory.
The Sharks got off to a very chilly start as they converted on only one of their first nine attempts from three-point country while also missing on their first seven free throws. The Sharks regained their shooting touch in the second half behind four made three pointers from Ross Candelino to come back from a 22-17 halftime deficit to take a 34-29 lead after three quarters.
The talented Senators, with perhaps their best team in many years, refused to give in to the Sharks as they came from seven points down in the final quarter to send the game into overtime. Much of the damage done for Fletcher was from their all-state candidate, 6-foot 5-inch senior Lajae Jones, who carried a 22-point-per-game average into the contest. The stingy Shark defense held Jones to but 2 points through the first three quarters before Jones caught on fire, scoring 14 of his 16 points in the game’s final minutes.
After the Sharks forced a turnover to begin the extra session, the visitors patiently worked the ball around before Gus Jordheim delivered a pass to JT Kelly who calmly drilled a three-pointer to give the Sharks the lead at 47-44. The Senators again rallied back to knot up the contest at 49-49 with less than a minute remaining. With the clock winding down Kelly rebounded his own missed shot and was fouled. With but 03.9 seconds showing on the clock, Kelly calmly converted both of his free throw attempts. Nathan Bunkosky then stole the long inbounds passed and made a free throw to make the final score read 52-49.
“Fletcher was a great test in a playoff type environment” said Whirity following the contest. “It included downs, high intensity, talented opponents and strategic coaching; a great test all around and we learned a lot about our team.”
The Sharks again, as they have done throughout the season, received outstanding balanced scoring in the contest. Bunkosky chipped in with 13 points to go along with some stellar floor play. Kelly also tallied 13 points, while Luke Pirris was a workhorse with nine rebounds and four steals while scoring eight points. Jordheim was quietly performing an effective role on the court, chipping in with 4 points and no turnovers as well as that all-important assist to Kelly’s big 3-pointer in overtime.
After a first half that saw Candelino misfire on all four of his three-pointers, the senior transfer from Bishop Kenny showed his mettle in the second half by scoring all 14 of his team high points.
Whirity has more than welcomed the 6-foot 4-inch senior to the squad this season.
“Ross is a natural scorer,” he said, “but his most impressive attributes are reaching far outside his ability to hit the 3: rebounding, taking charges, deflections and assists, just to name a few. He’s making an impact on every aspect of the game, and we know we’re just scratching the surface on what he can really do for the team. We absolutely love having Ross in the program.”
The Sharks will meet St. Augustine on Thursday, Jan. 20. The Sharks will conclude their busy week by hosting Bartram Trail on Friday night, Jan. 21, when the graduating seniors will be honored before the 7:30 p.m. scheduled start.
