In the second Signature Series contest, The Patrick School out of New Jersey takes on The Rock School from Gainesville. The Patrick School was originally St. Patrick’s, a long-time City of Palms participant. After the NJ Archdiocese closed the school, it was re-opened as an independent program. The Rock, part of Florida’s highly competitive Sunshine Independent Athletic Association (SIAA), has been a strong independent program in Florida for well over a decade. They are the defending SIAA state champs and have a strong chance to repeat with a very talented roster.
Patrick opened up the scoring with a three rom 6’5 junior Jaiden Glover. The Rock then jumped out to a 7- 3 lead as 6’8 junior Sammie Yeanay hit two free throws, knocked down a three, and 6’9 junior Ryan Jones threw one down inside. Another three from Glover made the score 7-6 in favor of The Rock with 5:43 to go. Five straight points from The Rock’s 6’2 sophomore Evan Sterck pushed The Rock’s lead to six, but a six point Patrick run, four of those from 6’4 freshman Ikenna Alozie tied the score at 12-12 with 2:35 left. The Rock got a thre- point play from 6’6 junior Kameren Wright to go up three. It looked like The Rock would keep that three-point lead but a bucket before the horn from 6’7 senior Seck Zongo made the score 17-16 heading into the second quarter.
The Rock scored a free throw early in the second, but another three from Patrick’s Glover game them back the lead. The lead would change hands multiple times throughout the second quarter. Patrick School held a four-point lead, 32-28, with 1:48 to go, but The Rock got a Jones bucket inside and a Yeanay three to close out the half up one, 33-32.
The Rock got off to a good start with five points from Yeanay to go up 38-32 early in the third. With just over five minutes to go, The Rock’s lead was 41-36. That’s when things got interesting. Patrick School slowly whittled the lead down to two at 43-41 after a three from Glover. The Rock responded with a floater from Wright and a put back by 6’5 sophomore Austin Leslie to go up 47-41 with 2:31 to go. However, Patrick would hold The Rock scoreless the rest of the quarter while shaving three points off of that lead. With one period left, The Rock was up by one 47-46.
Patrick took a lead on a three by Satterfield but The Rock quickly tied it. The game would go back and forth and with 3:42 left to play, Patrick was up 53-51. At that point, The Rock went on a roll. The Lions finished out the game with a 10-0 run as Patrick was unable to penetrate The Rock defense and missed its perimeter shots. The Rock moves on to face Link Academy by the score of 61-53.
The Rock was led by Yeanay with 17 points while Jones added 13, Wright finished with 11 and 6’3 senior Dallas Jones contributed 10 points.
The Patrick School was led by Glover with 19 points while Satterfield finished with 10 points.