Middleton, Fla. — Wednesday night was a coach's dream for Marquez Porter.

The fifth-year head coach of The Villages High School girls basketball team saw his squad earn its first victory of the season — a 54-46 win over The First Academy (Orlando) — and also gave plenty of teachable moments over the Thanksgiving break.

VHS (1-1) earned its first win but not without some strife in the form of a lack of physicality and far too many turnovers, leaving Porter feeling grateful for the victory and equally as fortunate.

"I am happy to get the win, but I'm not happy about our performance," Porter said. "Our focus wasn't there as a team. Tonight, we made way more mental mistakes than we made previously."

The Buffalo led wire-to-wire after Evah Watterson hit a pair of 3-pointers to start the contest, with VHS leading by as much as nine in the first half. A lack of toughness on the defensive glass allowed The First Academy (1-1) to find its way back into the contest throughout the second quarter, before the Buffalo pulled ahead for a 28-21 lead at the break.

VHS extended its lead to a baker's dozen at 40-27 in the third quarter, before the visiting Royals battled back once again on the strength of a slew of turnovers committed by the Buffalo.

"We know we didn't play that well, so that's why it's still good to get the win," Watterson said. "We feel like we should be able to achieve a lot more when we're playing at the best of our ability, and we definitely didn't do that tonight."

A big reason for VHS holding off The First Academy was Amiyah Flowers, as the sophomore forward scored nine of her 13 points in the second.

"We've been on her every day in practice," Porter said of Flowers. "She's full of potential. With her size and ability, there's not a lot of girls that have that (combination) of size and skill. It was good to see her play up to her potential."

Flowers, along with seven points in the fourth quarter from Zion McRae, helped VHS overcome one last push late from The First Academy, who was paced by a game-high 22 points from Bianca Hall.

The two teams will square off again at 6:30 p.m. next Tuesday night (Nov. 28), when The First Academy hosts VHS in Orlando.


Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment at cody.hills@tvcs.org or by calling (352) 259-6890.