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Ridgewood Only Local Team To Win In Tampa Classic

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By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 27, 2007

TAMPA - It wasn't Ridgewood's most spirited outing, but the Rams did plenty to beat Mableton (Ga.) Whitefield Academy 57-43 on Wednesday, the opening day of the Tampa Hoops Classic at the University of South Florida.
Ridgewood was the only Tampa Bay area team out of four in the tournament to advance to the winners bracket. Wharton, Plant and Pinellas Park all lost their games.

The Rams (9-1) trailed 9-8 after one quarter, then went on a 15-0 run to start the second quarter with points from four of their five starters.
Ridgewood held an 18-point lead by the half, and Whitefield (6-3) cut the deficit to six in the fourth quarter before Ridgewood extended its lead to a more comfortable margin.

Derrick Zio and Mike Lawrence led the Rams with 16 points each.

"I'm thrilled, I don't know if anyone else is," Ridgewood coach Gary Anders said. "Any win is a good win, especially when you come down to a prestigious tournament like this.

"We didn't know anything about them and I don't know if they're good, if they're not good, it doesn't matter. The bottom line is you win and you get to move on to the winners bracket, and that may not be such a good thing but I'm happy. I don't understand our guys. We're just emotionless."

Plant (10-2) fell to Bishop Loughlin (5-1) of Brooklyn, N.Y., 65-49 due to a big fourth quarter by the Lions.

Plant trailed 41-35 after three quarters, but three Panthers turnovers early in the fourth helped Bishop Loughlin take a 12-point lead.

James Johnson had 20 points and Doron Lamb scored 19 for the Lions.

Sheldon Cooley and Chandler Flom each had 12 points for Plant, and Becker Archerd came off the bench to score 12.

"We hung with them for three quarters of the game, and the way I saw it in the fourth quarter, we just hit that mental block, we started turning the ball over," Plant coach Mike Phillips said.

Wharton lost to Orlando Olympia 71-44, and Pinellas Park lost to Humble (Texas) Christian Life 65-55.

Today, Pinellas Park plays Gainesville (Ga.) East Hall at 2:15 p.m. at the Sun Dome. Wharton plays Miami Northwestern at 3:15 p.m. at The Corral at the Sun Dome, Plant plays the loser of the Reno (Nev.) Galena/Fort Lauderdale American Heritage game (also at The Corral), and Ridgewood faces Cincinnati Princeton, which beat Jacksonville Lee 79-75, at the Sun Dome at 9:15 p.m.

KUZDALE COMMITS: Former Plant defensive back Chris Kuzdale has verbally committed to Charleston Southern. Kuzdale played at the Milford Academy in the fall to give colleges another look at him and it resulted in a scholarship offer.

"That's a good spot for him," Plant coach Robert Weiner said. "I think he's better than a Division I-AA player, but that is a place where he can excel."

Kuzdale played an integral role in the Panthers' 2006 state championship, including collecting two interceptions in the title game against Nease.

In other recruiting news, Plant junior quarterback Aaron Murray received another offer, this time from the University of North Carolina.

Staff writer Katherine Smith contributed to this report.

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