• Tuesday - Boys' Soccer v. Providence, 6:30 pm.    
• Tuesday - Girls' Basketball v. Pedro Menendez, 6 pm.  
• Wednesday - Wrestling v. Bartram Trail, 5 pm. 
• Friday - Varsity Girls' Basketball v. Ridgeview, 7 pm.  

Sharksgiving  

Scorecard

Girls' Basketball:

The Ponte Vedra  High School Lady Sharks had a relaxed competitive schedule last week taking on only Episcopal before the Thanksgiving break.  Traveling to Episcopal the Lady Sharks exploded for 17-3 first quarter lead before ending the half at a comfortable 33-11 margin, resting on a 22-point separation. Episcopal came into the game undefeated at 6-0.  They may have gone into the locker room dazed by the explosive PVHS performance, but quit was not in their vocabulary.  The second half started with an Episcopal offensive run that began a lengthy attack on the Lady Sharks lead. The typically sound ball handling by Ponte Vedra went absent when the team accounted for 15 total turnovers.   By the end of the third quarter the once 22 point lead was cut more than in half to 10 points.  The fourth quarter showed Episcopal continuing their valiant effort to the point that they had a three-point final shot in an attempt to tie the score at the buzzer.  The final score gave the Lady Sharks their fourth consecutive victory by the ever so slim margin of 55-52.

Megan Piggott led Ponte Vedra's scoring with 26 points.  Mandi Koski had another strong evening with 18 points and 15 rebounds.  Christi Begeman was third in scoring with five points.  Three other added to the scoring at two points each, including Miriam Grant, Rachel Aspinwall, and Julie Cressman.   Episcopal offered a balanced scoring attach with seven players ranging from 15 points down to 2.  

Ponte Vedra will have a busy week this week with two home games, Tuesday against Pedro Menendez and a Friday faceoff with Ridgeview, while they take to the road on Thursday to St. Augustine High School.

The week before last, the Ponte Vedra Lady Sharks exploded for two important victories to run their record to 3-2 and setting their winning streak at three games.  

On Tuesday evening, November 19, the St. Joseph Lady Flashes invaded the Shark Tank.  During the first quarter the game stayed close with Ponte Vedra holding a close 12-8 lead as the period closed.  By half-time the Lady Sharks advanced to a more comfortable 11-point lead at 31-20.  In the two final quarters strong defense helped broaden the advantage to 20 points, then eventually closing out the game with a 21-point distancing at 65-46.  

The Ponte Vedra offense was led by stalwart junior Mandy Koski with 24 points.  Other double-diget performances came from Christi Begeman with 12 and Megan Piggott with 11.  Freshman Julie Cressman hit for seven points while both Miriam Grant and Erin Landis collected four apiece.  Another freshman, Rachel Aspinwall, completed the scoring with three points.  

On Friday evening the never beaten arch-rival Nease Lady Panthers came to Ponte Vedra looking to extend their dominate six-year unbeaten streak against Ponte Vedra.   The Lady Sharks have been developing into a cohesive unit over the past three years under Coach Jim Piggott and were looking forward to another battle.  Among their numerous team goals, a victory over Nease has always been near the top. Their last meeting took place l on February 1 in the Shark Tank during the District Finals when Nease defeated the hopeful Lady Sharks 60-45.  After a back-and-forth first quarter the Lady Sharks moved to a 42-29 half-time lead.  Continuing their strong play Ponte Vedra surprised their 'big sister"  showing them just how hard they have been working by sending Nease back on the bus with a 25 point loss closing the game out at 78-53.  

Among the highlights of the game was the coming out party for sophomore Erin Landis, who combined for 11 points and 10 rebounds in her first double-double performance.  Landis and teammate Mandi Koski provided Ponte Vedra a major height advantage in the center of the court.  Koski added 14 points with her patented inside moves. plus 17 rebounds with eight on offense and 9 on defense.  Megan Piggott was back on fire hitting for 30 points, many of those the benefit of an effective full-court press that forced turnover after turnover on Nease's offense.  Playing a key role in that defense was junior Brenna Storm who could be found all around the court, and often down on it.  Playing well on both sides of the ball she collected 12 points, four steals, and led the team with five assists.  Rachel Aspinwall gathered in four steals, with Piggott getting five of her own.   
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Ponte Vedra scoring was rounded out by Christi Begeman with five, Miriam Grant with four, and Rachel Aspinwall gathered two.  Nease's scoring was led by Sydney Searcy with 19 and Alex Romanello with 12. 

Boys' Basketball:

After opening the season with a pair of victories the Ponte Vedra Varsity boy's basketball game dropped two close games last week, with the last being an especially painful two-point loss to rival Creekside 58-56.

    The Sharks opened their home season on Monday by losing to undefeated Bishop Kenny 50-44 in the first of their back-to-back games played during the pre-Thanksgiving week of action.

    The Sharks trailing by a as many as 8 points early in the fourth quarter, closed the deficit to but 2 points with 1:07 remaining but the Crusaders Shaggy Almond hit a big 3 pointer to seal the Shark's fate.

    Ponte Vedra was able to only connect on 15 of their 41 field goal attempts, including a frigid 2-11 from behind the arc to fall to 2-1 on the season.

    Jackson Johnson netted half of Ponte Vedra's points with 22 markers and led in rebounding with a team high 7.  Ross McCarthy gave the Sharks a spark off the bench by chipping in 8 points and adding 5 rebounds.

    The following night's action saw Ponte Vedra race to a 13-0 lead at the onset of their contest Tuesday night with Creekside, only to see the host Knights rally to stun the Sharks 58-56 on a two pointer by Hunter DeRuiter with 8 seconds left in the contest.

    The loss was the second in as many nights for the Sharks as their record drops to 2-2 on the season.  The victorious Knights out scored the Sharks 8-2 in shots made behind the three point arc, with freshman Sol Miller coming off the bench to pot 4 of those long range bombs.

    Jackson Johnson led the Sharks in scoring with 20 points with Quinn Carey also in double figures for the losers with 11.  The Sharks will attempt to get back on the winning track when they travel to Menendez on Tuesday night in their first district contest of the young season.

    The Sharks will then have a full week off before returning home to the Shark Tank to host St. Augustine on Tuesday Dec. 12 and district newcomer Ridgeview on Thursday Dec. 14.     

Boys' Soccer:

Varsity - The Boys' Varsity and JV Soccer Teams are starting off their season strong, riding on the coattails of last year's State Championship.
Boy's Varsity Soccer is undefeated. Playing our first conference game versus Orange Park with a win of 3-0, Goals: Briggs Hurley, Jake Jackson, Austin Sigel.  We secured another win against Fernandina Beach: 3-1, Goals: Nate Frecks, Corey Johnson, Johnny Stephens.   Ponte Vedra v. Palatka: 8-0, Goals: Briggs Hurley, Ben Costantino, Corey Johnson (2), Nate Frecks, Jack Scully, Steven Krupka, Colby Clifton.  Our toughest competitor to date Ponte Vedra v. Creekside: 1-0 Goals: Colby Clifton.  St Joseph Academy: 3-0 Goals: Corey Johnson, Ben Costantino, Briggs Hurley. The team is starting off on solid ground and hopes to continue their winning streak with Chase Herzog in the net, and returning seniors Austin Sigle, Nate Frecks, Corey Johnson, Briggs Hurley, Wes Nicholson, Jack Scully, and Ben Costantino. 

JV - Boys JV Soccer is off to a strong start as well. This past weekend the team participated in a local Thanksgiving tournament beating Stanton 2 - 1 with 2 goals by Jack Bingemann. The second win was secured against Bishop Kenny with a 4-0 score, goals scored by Sam Nicholson, Jordon Klefeker, Landor Taucher , and Jifu Li.  The JV Team includes Will Bomar, Alec Schoengrund, Josh Greene, Sam Nicholson, Aidan Kelly, Cameron Alvarex, Jordon Klefeker, Landor Taucher, Carson King, Andrew Kassing, Conor Brandon, David Jones, Andre Mauriello, Chris Howard , Donovan Crowley, Will O'Hara, Jifu Lu, Ethan Penn, Patrick Shay , Jack Bingemann.