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Satram's Defense Leads Rams To Win

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A Tribune staff report

Published: February 16, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Junior guard Alvin Satram used a tough full-court press to stifle Wharton's high-scoring Chris Jean-Louis and lead the Ridgewood Rams to a 58-36 Class 5A-Region 2 quarterfinal victory Thursday evening.

The Rams (24-3) responded by forcing the Wildcats (15-14) into seven turnovers in the first four minutes of the game. Satram had three steals, and backcourt teammate Mike Lawrence picked off two passes. At the end of the first quarter, Wharton had more turnovers (nine) than points (six).

The Rams started the second quarter with a 9-0 run, with junior center Lukas Poderis scoring seven. After a timeout, the Wildcats answered with eight straight points, but Satram and Lawrence forced three more turnovers.

It appeared whenever Jean-Louis or his teammates got close to the basket, Poderis and senior forward Derrick Zio were there to block or alter the Wildcats' shots.

The Rams led at halftime 22-14.

The second half started much like the first half, with Satram and Lawrence pressuring the guards and forcing the Wildcats into nine turnovers on their first 12 possessions. The Rams broke the game open with 3:30 left when Satram fed Poderis for a thunderous dunk, making the score 32-16. The Wildcats never threatened again.

In addition to his eight steals, Satram held Jean-Louis to eight points through three quarters. Jean-Louis finished with 16 points on 6-of-23 shooting to lead the Wildcats.

"I just played him with everything I had. I respected his shooting and passing abilities and stayed as close to him as I could," said an exhausted Satram.

Poderis led the Rams on offense with 18 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots. Lawrence added 14 points and made nine of 12 from the free-throw line.

Cliff Gill

Puhalski Stunned At Gators' Loss To Brandon

BRANDON - Land O' Lakes coach Dave Puhalski seemed stunned as to what he had just witnessed following the Gators' 68-44 loss to Brandon in the Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinals Thursday night.

For a team that had won 21 games and had lost to Ridgewood by a combined six points in three meetings, the Gators did not play that way against Brandon (22-4).

"It was the worst we played all year," Puhalski said. "Give credit to Brandon, those guys forced a lot of that, but still. That wasn't our team that we've had all year."

The Eagles began overpowering Land O' Lakes early and had a 14-point lead after the first quarter.

The Gators were short-handed and were forced to use some players more than usual. They were without guard P.J. Potts because of a suspension and forward 6-foot-6 Quentin Bastian, who broke his ankle before the district tournament.

"I think a little bit, it hurt them not having a point guard," Brandon coach Mark Hermann said. "Anytime you lose your point guard and that guy's not on the floor, I think that probably knocked them out of sync. I feel bad for them, but that's how it goes sometimes."

Brandon, which visits Ridgewood on Tuesday, had some size, including 6-8 Evan Ravenel and 6-6 Marcus Morrison. Ravenel had 15 points and Morrison 12. Blake Allen led all scorers with 21 points after knocking down three 3-pointers, and James Ramsay had 15 points.

Having Bastian in the game might have helped counter some of the Eagles' big players, but Puhalski said the Gators couldn't even get a lot of their basics down, which was an even bigger detriment.

"Those are two of our top guys, so it made a difference but it didn't matter because the guys we did have didn't get the job done," Puhalski said.

Cristina Ledra

Pirates Stepped Up When Larry Hit Bench

DADE CITY - After fouling out of Thursday's Class 4A-Region 2 quarterfinal game against Groveland South Lake, Pasco senior Demetrious Larry considered the possibility that he may have to sit and watch the final seconds of his high school career from the bench.

The thoughts were brief, however, as he witnessed some clutch performances by teammates T.J. Bryant and Tevaris Jordan that closed out a 60-55 win. It extended Larry's career for at least one more game - a regional semifinal against Eustis on Tuesday.

"I was worried a little bit," Larry admitted. "Then they started stepping up, and we pulled it out."

Pasco advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2005, when they beat Williston in the 3A tournament. Pasco lost to Eustis 83-67 in the 2006 regional quarterfinals. That year, Eustis went on to the state semifinals.

Thursday, Larry scored 14 of the Pirates' 30 first-half points, and the first two points of the second half before committing his third and fourth fouls in a three-minute span. He failed to add to his 16 points after that, and Pasco's 12-point, third-quarter lead turned into a two-point deficit as a result of the foul trouble.

"That was the thing I told them about. I said you're about to get into playoff basketball. I said playoff basketball is a game of runs," said Pasco coach Poncho Broner. "I expected South Lake to have a run, and they gave us their run. We had to have an answer, and we had that."

But on Pasco's first possession after falling behind, Jordan took the ball strong to the basket, scoring while being fouled. The ensuing free throw gave the Pirates a 37-36 lead, and they didn't trail again.

Bryant had 10 of his 16 points in the second half, pacing the Pirates' offense and keeping it a two-possession game for much of the second half.

But South Lake was able to tie the game one other time, at 48 with just more than a minute left. Again, Jordan came through, this time grabbing an offensive rebound from a Larry miss, fighting through a double team and scoring the Pirates' final field goal. He finished with 12 points.

Bart O'Connell

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