PONTE VEDRA - Orange Park girls basketball forwards Trinity Dinkins and Gabby Mallory led a spirited second half rally, but the Raiders could not overcome a sloppy first half, falling 70-61 at Ponte Vedra in the Region 1-5A final on Feb. 20.

In Region 1-1A, St. Johns Country Day School lost 59-24 to North Florida Educational Institute in their region semifinal to end their season at 16-9. St. Johns was the region third seed with NFEI second seed.

In Ponte Vedra, the Lady Raiders, who typically use defensive pressure to create points in transition, were unable to rattle the hosts, limiting their own fast break opportunities. Instead, it was the Raiders who were bothered by tight defense from the Sharks, who started the game in a half-court trap and mixed in full court press, man and zone defenses.

“We were not taking our time, and I just think that it was nervousness on our part,” said Orange Park Head Coach Michael Nesmith, who noted that his Raiders had seen the same defenses from Ponte Vedra in a 64-54 loss to the Sharks on Nov. 18. “We had 16 turnovers in the first half. It is really tough to win a game that way.”

Freshman forward Audra Davis scored six points to stake Ponte Vedra to a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. After Orange Park’s Ella Crowe swished a 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the Raiders’ deficit to 16-13, the Sharks’ Jocelyn Hoffmann answered with three of her own that ignited a decisive 12-2 run that extended the lead to 28-15 with 0:49 remaining in the half. Ponte Vedra had little trouble breaking the Raiders’ full court press, resulting in three easy lay-ups during the run. Ponte Vedra led 30-17 at the intermission.

The Raiders came out with more energy in the second half, led by Dinkins and Mallory. Mallory scored eight points as the Raiders scored 20 points in the third quarter— more than doubling their output of the entire first half. But four 3-pointers by the Sharks— two by reserve guard Chloe Spencer-Gardner— maintained a double-digit lead for Ponte Vedra.

Crowe scored 11 points while Mallory and Mariah Young chipped in nine apiece for the Raiders, who ended their season with a 21-8 record. With only one senior graduating from the varsity roster, Nesmith is cautiously optimistic for next year.

“If we keep it together, they will win state,” Nesmith said. “There is nobody else in Region 1 that can handle us, but it is a crazy world. High school has recruiting now, so we will see.”

Spencer-Gardner contributed 16 points off of the bench while Davis finished with 12 for Ponte Vedra, which improved to 23-6. The Sharks travel to Pensacola Booker T. Washington for the regional final on Feb. 27.