District 3-2A boys: PSJ beats Franklin County for title

BRISTOL — Franklin County hung around long enough to have a shot, but Port St. Joe held off the pressure from it rival to ease to 60-51 win Saturday night and claim the District 3-2A boys’ basketball crown.

The Tiger Sharks padded an 8-0 regular-season district record by winning their 17th consecutive district tournament title. They easily brushed aside Liberty County on the Bulldogs’ home floor Friday night.

The Seahawks (17-9) came out in a half-court 1-3-1 trap, which at times kept Port St. Joe (23-4) off balance. But the Tigers Sharks lived up to their No. 1 seed.

“Just a good hard-fought win,” was how Port St. Joe coach Derek Kurnitsky described the outcome. “One of those playoff kind of gut-check games.”

Raheem Clemons scored eight of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter for Port St. Joe. Calvin Pryor added 17 points and eight rebounds, Roman Quinn had 10 points and Darrell Smith eight rebounds.

Clemons’ 3-pointer at the buzzer extended the Tiger Sharks’ lead to 12-8 after one quarter. With Pryor and Clemons leading the way, that expanded to 35-22 at halftime.

Even with leading scorer Austin O’Neal on the bench with three fouls throughout much of the third quarter, the Seahawks rallied. They continued their trapping pressure, and surged behind O’Neal and Arron Prince to get within 45-35 after three quarters.

A basket by Trekale Turrell on O’Neal’s assist drew Franklin County as close as 45-40 with five minutes to go. But Clemons made four consecutive free throws down the stretch to keep the Tiger Sharks in charge.

O’Neal finished with 19 points and Prince had 13 for Franklin County.

Port St. Joe will host the District 4-2A runner-up Jefferson County on Thursday in the first round of the region tournament.