Port St. Joe trounces Seahawks 81-66

The Port St. Joe Tiger Sharks laid to rest any doubts who is king fish of the district this year, as they exerted a persistent man-to-man defense, and torrid 3-point shooting to down Franklin County 81-66 Saturday night in Eastpoint.

The Sharks’ victory, second in two weeks over their arch-rivals to the east, pushed their season record to 16-3.

The only undefeated team in Class 2A, Region 1, District 3 play, Port St. Joe is now all but assured of a regular season district title.

The Tiger Sharks jumped out to an 18-6 bulge after the first quarter, and their lead never fell from double-digits there on out.

Rahkeem Quinn set the stage for tight coverage of Seahawks sophomore sensation Carlos Morris throughout the game, with Morris drawing his second foul of the opening quarter when he reacted forcefully to the hand checking that teams have employed against him all year.

“I thought it was physical both ways,” said Port St. Joe coach Derek Kurnitsky.

In the second quarter, the Tiger Sharks nailed five treys, two by Calvin Pryor, to continue their assault. The scoring barrage included a four-point play by Raheem Clemons, who was fouled on a successful three-point shot, and then nailed the free throw, to open a 39-14 lead with three minutes left in the half.

Just before the intermission, the Seahawks’ senior point guard, Austin O’Neal, who led all scorers with 29 points, hit two buckets and two free throws, and Morris two foul shots, for an 8-0 Seahawk run that made it at 39-22 at the half.

Two quick jumpers from Willie Quinn, who led Port St. Joe with 26 points, snuffed out any potential momentum by the Seahawks at the start of the second half, as the Tiger Sharks opened a 20-point cushion.

Morris, who finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, nailed back-to-back treys midway through the third quarter, but Clemons answered back with his third of three treys on the night, and Port St. Joe led 60-45 going into the final stanza.

The closest the Seahawks got was 65-55 with 4:50 left in the game, when O’Neal hit two free throws.

Port St. Joe managed to break the press, and eight points by Quinn in the final quarter thwarted any Seahawks’ rally.

In all, Port. St. Joe hit eight-of-14 3-pointers, with four of its five starters in double figures.

“Run, shoot and holler,” said Kurnitsky. “We executed our game plan, but we need to be more consistent on defense. There’s so much more basketball to play.”

Jan. 23 vs. Port St. Joe

1. Port St. Joe        18  21  21  21 - 81
2. Franklin Co.        6   16  23  21 - 66

SEAHAWKS: Prince 2/4 2s, 1/7 3s, 0/1 FT, 7 pts.; Morris 5/10 2s, 2/6 3s, 3/4 FT, 19 pts.; Modican 3/9 2s, 1/4 FTs, 7 pts.; Joseph 2/4 2s, 4 pts.; O’Neal 8/19 2s, 1/6 3s, 10/13 FTs, 29 pts.

Totals: 20/46 2s, 4/19 3s, 14/22 FTs

Rebounds: Morris 8, Modican 7, Winfield 6, O’Neal 5, Joseph 4, Prince 3, Michael Turner 2

Steals: Prince, O’Neal

Assists: O’Neal, Prince 5, Morris 2

Blocks:  Modican

TIGER SHARKS: Trubias Hill 5 pts.; Roman Quinn 11 pts.; Raheem Clemon 18 pts.; Darrell Smith 5 pts.; Rahkeem Quinn 2 pts.; Willie Quinn 26 pts.; Calvin Pryor 14 pts

Totals: 8/14 3s, 11/25 FTs

Tuesday, Jan. 19

Port St. Joe 62, West Gadsden 43

The Tiger Sharks opened a huge first half lead and coasted en route to an easy victory at West Gadsden despite their depth being depleted by flu (Roman Quinn missed a week of practice) and early foul trouble (Calvin Pryor picked up two in the first quarter).

Raheem Clemons had 21 points to lead Port St. Joe. Willie Quinn added 14 points, Rock Quinn nine, Darrell Smith nine, Roman Quinn five and Pryor four.

The Tiger Sharks host Tallahassee Leon on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Mosley at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. They host Bay at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.