Seahawks fall to St. Joe, beat West Gadsden

The Franklin County Seahawks, stinging from a Saturday night trouncing by the Port St. Joe Tiger Sharks, returned to their winning ways Tuesday, defeating West Gadsden at home in a district matchup.

Playing without sophomore standout Carlos Morris, sidelined with a deep thigh bruise, the Seahawks came back from a 37-33 deficit entering the final quarter Tuesday night to secure a 58-50 win.

The Seahawks outscored the Panthers 25-13 in the fourth quarter to secure the win, paced on the night by 24 points from senior Austin O’Neal and 22 from senior Arron Prince. Junior Adam Joseph added eight, while juniors Dalin Modican and Michael Turner each added two.

Coach Fred Drake said O’Neal, facing four fouls in the third quarter, had to sit out for several minutes, as the Panthers outscored Franklin County 18-6. But O’Neal came back to help lead the charge in the final quarter.

On Saturday night, before a huge crowd at the “Hawk’s Nest,” Port St. Joe 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 three-point shooting to down Franklin County 81-66.

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’ 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 three-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.”

Drake praised the Sharks’ play, but sent word that the Seahawks still had two more meetings in the playoffs to turn things around.

“They outnumbered us, they have five great players,” said Drake. “They’re a seasoned team, doing what they’re supposed to do.

“This game was lost in the first quarter,” said Drake. “Basically the kids spent too much time trying to please the community. They wanted to win the game for the wrong reasons.”

On January 19 at Liberty County, the Seahawks coasted to an 85-55 win over the Bulldogs. “t was a good game for all the kids to get in and get some minutes and have some fun,” said Drake.

The coach said he is battling some down feelings among his players. “The kids are at the point where they feel people are against them now, they feel like people don’t want them to win or play good,” said Drake. “For whatever reason they feel like the support is not there. I told them ‘Let’s go prove people wrong.”

The Seahawks travel to Florida High tonight and are at home Friday to square off against Jefferson County.

Jan. 23 vs. Port St. Joe

Port St. Joe     18  21  21  21 - 81

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 Clemons 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

Jan. 19 @ Liberty County

Franklin Co.     20  18  23  24 – 85

Liberty Co.       14  10  16  15 – 55

SEAHAWKS: Arron Prince 1/3 2s, 4/10 3s, 14 pts.; Carlos Morris 6/11 2s, 3/7 3s, 2/2 FT, 23 pts.; Dalin Modican 5/12 2s, 0/2 FT, 10 pts.; James Winfield 2/5 2s, 4 pts.; Tydron Wynn 2/3 2s, 1/2 3s, 7 pts.; Adam Joseph 0/3 2s; Austin O’Neal 9/16 2s, 0/1 3s, 4/5 FTs, 22 pts.; Derick Rhodes 1/3 2s, 1/2 FTs, 3 pts.; Zach Jones 1/4 2s, 2 pts.

Totals: 27/60 2s, 8/20 3s, 7/11 FTs

Rebounds: Morris 11, Prince, O’Neal 10, Rhodes, Winfield 4, Jones, Joseph 3, Wynn 2, Modican, Michael Turner

Steals: Prince 3, Joseph, Modican, Morris, 2, O’Neal

Assists: Morris 7, O’Neal 5, Prince, Winfield, Modican, Joseph 2

BULLDOGS: Marquise Jones 1 pt., Darell Hogan 20 pts., Nolan Brown 6 pts., Jason Hartey 10 pts., Josh Locklear 13 pts., Tristan Summers 3 pts., E.J. Wins 2 pts.