Middleton, Fla. — The Villages High School girls basketball team made some history Wednesday night in Middleton.
The Buffalo set a new program record for regular-season victories with a 64-48 win over Springstead inside the VHS Gymnasium, picking up their 17th victory of the year to set a new mark.
The previous record belonged to the 2020-21 team, which recorded 16 regular-season wins prior to the district tournament, and ultimately tallied a program-best 20 wins overall.
"I'm just so proud of our girls," said VHS head coach
Marquez Porter. "No matter what we've faced as a team, we've stayed the course. There's been some really tough times we've had to go through."
One of those tough times came this past Monday, when VHS (17-4 overall) was defeated by in-county rival Wildwood for the third time in three meetings this season.
The Buffalo bounced back from that 66-38 loss with a roaring start to Wednesday's rebound effort against visiting Springstead, as VHS raced out to a 25-14 lead through one quarter of play.
VHS leading scorer
Zion McRae, who was held to just four points in Monday's loss, opened with 14 first-quarter points en route to a game-high total of 24. The senior point guard also hit six 3-pointers in the win.
"That girl puts up with so much, especially from me," said Porter, McRae's stepfather. "Everybody else puts up with me at practice or in the games, but she also gets me at home. She never talks back or gets disrespectful. For her to respond in a big way, I'm just very proud of her."
Herva Brutus scored nine of her 20 points in the second quarter for the Buffalo, who led 42-23 at the half and never looked back, as VHS maintained a double-digits lead throughout the second half on its way to a historic win.
"We've just got to keep going and moving forward," Porter said. "No matter what we face, it's on to the next play, the next quarter, the next game or even just the next practice. All of our goals are right in front of us and we have to keep working for them."
The Buffalo will return to action at 6:30 p.m. Thursday night when they host South Sumter (1-15) in Middleton.
Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment via email at cody.hills@tvcs.org.
