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Wildcats Are A Work In Progress

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By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 26, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - The Wesley Chapel Wildcats wished they could have seen a little more out of themselves at their inaugural Thanksgiving Shootout, where they went 1-1.

They also realize they are a work-in-progress team that is attempting to implement an entirely new style of play.

The Wildcats have had a strong start to the season at 4-1 overall, with their one loss coming in an near comeback against Sickles on Friday.

They have played well while trying to spread the ball around a lot more than they had in previous years when they had former Wesley Chapel standout Sthefany Thomas.

"I think other teams are having to focus on more than one person," senior guard Ashley Carey said. "They can't just focus on one person."

At least all five of Wesley Chapel's starters are scoring threats and some could develop off the bench as the season moves along.

The Wildcats' leading scorer this season is Caitlin DeBoer, who transferred from Cambridge over the summer. She is averaging 11.4 points per game, Carey is second with 10.4, Desiree Vizcaino has 9.2, Cree McIver has 9, Janelle Mills and Jeani Ducos each have 8.4.

"I really like playing with the girls here," DeBoer said. "It's nice being on the court and having four other strong girls with you instead of it being just one person. I kind of went through the same thing they did last year. I was the one player on the Cambridge team, so coming here it's really good to be with girls who know how to play the game and distribute the ball and really just play basketball the way it was meant to be played."

Jones said the Wildcats can shoot the ball well; they just have to learn how to take better shots.

And he said the girls don't always play a spirited game, as was the case for about half of the Sickles game in which they lost 52-44 and Saturday's 63-43 win against Trinity Catholic.

"We just played three steps slower than we usually do," Jones said. "We couldn't find any intensity. We play when we want to play.

"It's part of being early in the season. Everything is fresh on their minds so with them not really knowing all that's going on, it slows them down a little bit."

Spreading the ball around may be a fairly new concept around Wesley Chapel, but the Wildcats realize that their season depends on them catching on fast.

"Last year it was all about one player and we understood that and we did a very good job with it," Vizcaino said. "But now it's a team and if we don't work as a team it won't work at all."

Land O' Lakes won both of its games in the shootout to remain undefeated. The Gators beat The Rock 59-51 on Friday and Armwood 52-38 on Saturday, though Coach Laurie Pacholke said she is still looking for some more consistency from her team, especially in the post.

She added that she was thankful the Gators got some good games in at the shootout over the Thanksgiving break before continuing with their schedule this week.

Shorthanded Pasco lost both of its games against Armwood 45-17 on Friday and The Rock 50-25 on Saturday.

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