Port St. Joe basketball teams sweep visiting Wakulla
On Monday, December 12, Port St. Joe made it a clean sweep over the visiting Wakulla basketball teams.
In girls action, the Tiger Sharks sped to a 20-3 lead in the first quarter on their way to an easy 48-16 win. Now 2-4, the Lady Sharks will tip off at 6:30 against North Bay Haven this Saturday at the Gulf County Classic.
Holding a 31-7 halftime lead, the Sharks completely overwhelmed the War Eagles 17-0 in the third period before allowing the starters to rest for virtually the entire final quarter.
Senior point guard Jae Lenox led the way with 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals.
Junior Ty’Shawn Shackleford and eighth grader Jayla Hills each added 10 points. Shackleford pulled down nine rebounds, and Hills snatched six boards along with her four steals.
Senior Mari Johnson scored eight points and swept the glass for 22 rebounds. She also dished out six assists, had four steals and blocked two shots.
Senior Alonah Segree added four points, two rebounds, and two steals.
Following a JV boys 48-44 win over the War Eagle JV, the Port St. Joe boys varsity followed suit, taking a 60-56 nail-biter for their first win of the season.
After racing to a 37-23 halftime lead, the Sharks were outscored 16-10 in the third quarter before finding themselves clinging to a 49-47 lead with 5:15 remaining in the game after a furious Wakulla rally.
Baskets by JD Becton and LaJuan Zaccaro pushed the Shark lead to 53-47 before a War Eagle 3-pointer closed the gap once again, and it soon appeared that they would take the lead but Chance Gainer blocked a fast break layup attempt with 2:38 on the clock.
A few minutes later, with the score 55-54 in favor of St. Joe, Coach Toney Powell called time out with 1:16 remaining to set up the play, but on the ensuing play, Wakulla stole the ball.
Somehow, TJ Jenkins was able to fight for and recover possession of the ball, calling another time out just before he slid out of bounds.
Taking the inbounds pass when play resumed, Zaccaro drove to the basket and drew two defenders to him just as he dished a nifty pass to Jay Stuckey for the layup.
Not making things easy, Wakulla scored and called time out with 9.9 seconds showing on the clock, down only 57-56.
Shockingly, St. Joe turned the ball over, but Wakulla missed two consecutive layups and returned possession to the Sharks on a held ball with only 5.9 seconds.
When play resumed after their final time out, Wakulla immediately fouled Eli Harris, who calmly sank both tries to give St. Joe a 59-56 advantage.
Two seconds later, Harris returned to the line and made the final point before the game mercifully ended with a Shark victory.
TJ Jenkins led the Sharks with 16 points, followed by Zay Jenkins with 14. Zaccaro added 12, and Stuckey scored eight. Harris scored all five of his points from the charity stripe in the final 2:38 of the game, while Becton scored four, and Kellen Speights added a point.
St. Joe will host Blountstown on Friday, December 16, at 7:30, and then will tip off at 8:00 on Saturday against North Bay Haven.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.