Wilkenson Isnord and the Pompano Beach Blanche Ely High School Tigers got off to a slow start but ramped up its pace on its way to the Class 8A state championship in the FHSAA Boys Basketball State Finals on Saturday at the RP Funding Center.
Isnord made his presence felt early on the inside and finished the game with 10 rebounds, five points and five blocks.
The Tigers used a 33-8 run to take over the game in the second quarter and marched on to defeat Jacksonville Creekside 77-54 for the school’s seventh boys’ basketball state title and their fifth in the last seven years.
The Knights jumped out to an early 11-3 lead, but Blanche Ely used its 33-8 run to take a 36-19 lead with just 2:45 remaining in the second half.
Ely’s Joshua Scott led the way for the Tigers with 26 points and Anthony Byrd added 14 points.
Noah Lippy led the Knights with 14 points, J’michael Plummer had 13 and D.J. Dumas added 10.
“We took a couple of beatings along the way, which is okay, but growth came in and helped us to get to where we are now,” Blanche Ely coach Melvin Randall said, after winning his state-best eighth title.
Offers continue to roll in for Isnord, who wrapped up his first and final season at Blanche Ely.
Isnord averaged 6.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game this season, and was huge in a 73-58 semifinal win over St. Petersburg, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Isnord played for J.P. Taravella High School last season and joined the stacked Florida Vipers Under-16 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team on the Under Armor Circuit last summer.
Up to this point, Isnord has received official offers from Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) and Appalachian State University, while schools such as the University of South Florida (USF), Louisiana Tech and the Navy Academy have all expressed interest in the athletic big man this summer.
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