Blountstown ends Port St. Joe district streak

The streak was bound to end sometime, but after the first round of the District 4-1A tournament, it was over.

After nearly two decades of consecutive district titles, Port St. Joe (9-17) fell to Blountstown 55-37 in last week’s quarterfinals, ending the Tiger Sharks season short of even defending a district crown they have held since Bill Clinton was President.

“There were a lot of missed layups and a lot of turnovers,” said Port St. Joe coach Derek Kurnitsky. “I feel like a broken record, but those have been our problems all year.

“The kids played hard, they played with passion. We just could not get our offense going.”

The Tiger Sharks took a first quarter lead that evaporated into a 17-15 deficit at halftime. The Tigers pushed the lead in the third quarter before a 21-9 outburst over the final eight minutes sealed the Blountstown win.

T. J. Williams and Alex King scored nine points apiece to lead Port St. Joe. Chad Quinn added six points, Natrone Lee five, Ramello Zaccarro four and Arion Ward and Jarkiece Davis two each.

If there is a silver lining to a difficult season, it is that the Tiger Sharks will return nine of 12 players on this year’s roster and will welcome the core of a strong junior varsity team that finished 9-8 on the season.

“It absolutely helps that so many kids will come back with at least one year of experience playing varsity,” Kurnitsky said. “This was a rough year, but the kids played hard, a lot of bounces just didn’t go our way. It was one of those rebuilding years.

“But we have nine back next year and some really good looking kids coming up from junior varsity. With some work in the weight room and playing time over the summer, we should be back to where we belong next season.”