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Rebounding, Defense Doom Ridgewood

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By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 21, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - From the end of last season, Ridgewood had put in countless hours and miles with the stated goal of advancing deeper into the boys basketball playoffs than the region semifinals.

Brandon wasn't the dynamic team that eventual state champion Lake Howell was last year, but the outcome was the same.

With a 61-57 win in Class 5A-Region 2, the Eagles bounced the Rams out of the postseason in a game that could have gone either way had Ridgewood's last possession not been broken up by Brandon's Marcus Morrison.

"That's what I talked to the team about - we've done a lot of stuff in 11 months," Ridgewood coach Gary Anders said. "We've been all over the place with the hope of going a little bit further than we did. That's the bottom line. I won't talk about final four, I won't talk about elite eight but you do everything with the hope of making it just a little bit farther."

It was a disappointing end to a season in which the team's development during the course of the year was evident. Following Tuesday's game, however, the Rams could already tell what went wrong against Brandon.

"I think we could have done some things better today, like rebound and play defense," Ridgewood junior Lukas Poderis said.

Defense ultimately was what won the game for Brandon. Although the Eagles had a hard time containing Alvin Satram and Poderis, who both finished with 21 points, Brandon slowed its possessions down while keeping the Rams on the run.

"I thought either team had the ability to blow the other one out," Anders said. "But I had seen some of their scores and they had some low-scoring wins, and it's interesting to watch them because they're very deliberate and patient in the half-court yet they can really get up and down the floor. And I think them getting up and down the floor defensively was a big factor. They really made us play defense in the half-court and let their athletes play."

Next season, the Rams return much of this year's lineup. Poderis, Satram and Bryan Jones are all juniors. But they will greatly miss point guard Mike Lawrence and 6-foot-6 forward Derrick Zio.

It won't be the same team, and the preparation for next season will be treated as such.

"We'll do something, but it won't be the same," Anders said. "We will certainly challenge them and give them what they need. I think every team is different, and what we did with this bunch, they got what they needed but we'll be taking a different approach."

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