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Wesley Chapel Getting Better All The Time

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By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 11, 2008

When Wesley Chapel takes the court against Land O' Lakes tonight, the Wildcats hope the outcome is a lot different than their last meeting, a 74-53 Land O' Lakes victory.

That was back in early December, and the Wildcats (14-3) struggled to hang on to the ball and make shots.

Since then, improvements have been made in both of those departments. And depth also has improved, so this time promises to be more competitive.

"We've gotten better defensively, our scoring is more balanced, we cut down on turnovers," Wesley Chapel coach Doug Greseth said. "We played some tough games early in the season. We had Land O' Lakes and Wesley Chapel, and those were our only two losses until the Alonso tournament.

"There are just ebbs and flows of the season, and it took us a little while to get going. I think everyone is understanding their roles. We've had guys off the bench come through, and I think that's made us better."

The Wildcats had a successful holiday schedule, winning the Ocala Trinity Catholic tournament at the end of December and losing their first game of Alonso's holiday tournament but going on to win the consolation bracket.

Greseth said that out of six games, the Wildcats played only one bad quarter, and that was the fourth quarter against King in the first game of the Alonso tournament. Wesley Chapel gave up a sizeable lead in that game and lost 55-51.
Wesley Chapel beat Williston 58-52, Miami Washington 70-55 and Sparta (N.J.) Pope John XXIII, a team that came in 7-0, at Trinity Catholic.

After losing their first game to King, the Wildcats went on to beat Leto 51-38 and Bloomingdale 58-53.

Another reason for Wesley Chapel's progression has been Greseth's tinkering of the lineup

He moved Chris Sepulveda to point guard and Ladarius Manora to wing, and both moves appear to be good ones.
Manora is averaging 16.2 points per game, right behind Greg Jenkins with 17.5, and 6-foot-5 Micheal Koesling is averaging 13.1 points and 8.8 rebounds.

Greseth added that 6-4 Anthony Warren has provided the Wildcats with strong defense as a post player and has 21 blocks this season.

GATORS WIN ONE, ALMOST ANOTHER: Land O' Lakes had a successful run of its own through the holidays, winning the Ram Jam Classic hosted by Sarasota Riverview, and advancing to the championship game of the Alonso Holiday Classic.

Land O' Lakes (14-4) beat Hialeah 68-51, host Riverview 40-34 and Orlando Oak Ridge 42-41 in the championship game.

The Gators then went on to beat Alonso 60-50 and Palm Harbor 82-56 before losing to King 48-45 in the championship of the Alonso tournament.

This week, Land O' Lakes easily beat Central and lost to West Gate Christian 69-45 on Wednesday night.

Jerome Harrison leads the Gators with 18.9 points per game and Kevin Burnell averages 13.7. Mike Espinosa, Land O' Lakes' big man in the middle, has 53 blocks this season.

PIRATES ON A ROLL: Pasco won all three of its game at the Big Blue Holiday Classic in Winter Haven to improve to 11-4.

The Pirates beat Winter Haven 48-43, Lake Wales 74-71 and Lake Region 75-68. The tournament did not have a championship format and was a 12-team shootout.

Pasco has been led all season by the most prolific scoring duo in the county, Demetrious Larry and T.J. Bryant.

Larry is averaging 20.3 points per game, the highest average in the county, and Bryant is at 18.5.

Bryant's scoring was down considerably against Lake Region and in the Pirates' loss to River Ridge on Jan. 4, but he had 37 points in a loss to Springstead on Dec. 20.

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