by James J. Lidington
Isle of Wight Academy

PORTSMOUTH
Isle of Wight Academy bade farewell to longtime coach and headmaster Benjamin A. Vaughan as the boys basketball team bowed out of the Metro Athletic Conference Tournament in the semifinal round, falling to Atlantic Shores, 84-34, on Friday night.

The Chargers had hoped to recapture the magic of the 18-17 first quarter of their first meeting with the Seahawks earlier this month. IWA had defeated Shores only once in the 14 years since the two both became Metro combatants. The year was 2013 when IWA alumnus Nathan Sivertson hit a jumper as time expired to give Isle of Wight Academy a 60-58 win over the Seahawks. It was the Chargers’ first win over the Seahawks since Shores joined the Metro in the fall of 2002.

IWA was behind 18-11 in the first quarter Friday and 29-18 at halftime. But they were undone 30-9 by poor shooting and stingy Shores defense in the third period. Jordan Baines, who finished the year as the Metro’s second-leading scorer in only his second game back after being out sick a week ago, managed 19 points, including his team’s only nine points in the third.

He was the only Charger in double figures and his teammates scored only seven points after the first period. Atlantic Shores, however, had four players with at least 12 points.

Atlantic Shores went on to claim the Metro Tournament crown, defeating Portsmouth Christian for the title on Saturday.

The loss ended IWA’s season at 16-10, a favorable result contrasted with their 11-15 campaign of 2015-16. Vaughan finishes his career with 628 coaching victories, among a select group of the most successful high school coaches nationwide.

The Chargers were hoping to continue their post-season win streak after Thursday’s remarkable 71-68 win over tournament host school Alliance Christian.

After trailing by nine points with 6:16 remaining, IWA’s Grant Worthy made two foul shots to put the Chargers up by a point with 30 seconds left. He went on to make two more after a technical foul on the Alliance bench was angered by a referee’s non-call; Baines was 3-for-4 in the final period to preserve the win.

Worthy finished with a game-high 25 points; Baines had 23. All but two of the six Falcons who played scored double figures. IWA tied its season high for t3-pointers with 11. They also connected on 11 long-distance shots on Feb. 14 versus Broadwater in Exmore.

JAMES J. LIDINGTON is a teacher at Isle of Wight Academy. Contact him at 357-3866.