It was a clash of two North Florida heavyweights inside of Bob Albertson Gym Tuesday night, as Florida High boys basketball welcomed The Rock to town.
Playing one of the top teams in Florida the Seminoles kept it close entering the fourth quarter, with the score reading 43-39 in favor of the visitors, but ultimately the Seminoles fell to a 1-2 record after a 64-54 loss to The Rock after an impressive fourth quarter display led by Lions senior Erik Taylor.
Florida High head coach Charlie Ward felt the matchup with The Rock gave his team an idea of where they stand against top teams and he has used the first three games of the season to measure where his squad ranks against some of the best teams in the South.
"It helps all of us coaches and players to understand and know where we are and what we need to do to get better," Ward said. "So this is just another good opportunity for us. We are playing some really good teams here early which is good for us to see how we can continue to improve."
Facing two of Georgia's elite basketball programs in Tri-Cities , losing 55-45, and Creekside Christian Academy , winning 64-46, Tuesday night's matchup was the first regular season matchup with a program in Florida for the Seminoles.
The Rock is ranked as not only one of the best teams in the state but in the country, ranked as the third best preparatory school by MaxPreps, and the top prep school in the state. With two Division One college basketball commits on the court for the Rock, Ward thinks the experience of playing against one of the nation's top teams will be beneficial for the Seminoles long term.
"The Rock is a good organization, good school and they have great coaching. They play a certain way and that's what we're going to face in the playoffs," Ward said. "Anytime you can get an opportunity to face teams like that, it only helps us long term, but we still have a long way to go and a lot of growing to do. When it's all said and done we all have to continue to look in the mirror to see how we can all get better as coaches and players."
Coming off a 27-4 finish last season and losing star players Anthony Robinson II and Tre Donaldson in back-to-back seasons, the Seminoles are heading into the new year with evolving expectations.
One of the players Florida High is looking to lean on this season is junior Trey Card . The forward provided a spark against The Rock, topping the team's scoring chart and leading the third-quarter run that briefly gave the Seminoles the lead.
With Florida High entering a new era, Ward hopes Card can keep up his level of production across the whole season. Averaging 12.5 points per game, three rebounds and assists, the junior forward is a key piece for a Seminoles team that has hopes to make a deep run in the postseason.
"We just need him to play that way. When he's on the floor now he takes a lot of breaks and we just need all of our guys to pick up their level of intensity," Ward said. "But we [coaches] got to make sure that we're putting them in the right spots and giving them great opportunities to be successful. So we didn't do a good job of that tonight. But we're continuing to improve and get better."
These are the scores and stats posted at the time of publishing. Scores and stats can be posted to MaxPreps or sent to lrooney@gannett.com
Boys Basketball:St. John Paul II 49, Chiles 47; Brookwood 68, Wakulla 39
Girls Basketball:Madison County 68, North Florida Christian 22
Boys Soccer:No scores reported
Girls Soccer:Jefferson County 8, Gadsden County 0; Maclay 5, Port St. Joe 1, Wakulla 3, Taylor County 2
Liam Rooney covers preps sports for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamroone y
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida High boys basketball falls to The Rock in early season heavyweight clash
