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Girls basketball: Gulf Hands Wesley Chapel Second Loss Of Season

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By LEE DIEKEMPER

Tribune correspondent

Published: January 29, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - Just about any high school coach will admit the regular season is one long practice until the postseason begins. That a team's record is meaningless unless said team is playing well when districts begin.

Not only is Gulf High School girls basketball team playing well, they're clicking just right. The Buccaneers (21-4) hit overdrive in their regular season finale, defeating Wesley Chapel, 57-43, Thursday night.

The loss is Wesley Chapel's second of the season.

Part of the reason for the Buccaneers' humming along is the play of post player Kianna Mills. The 5-foot-11 junior transferred to the team from Ridgewood when the school year began last fall.

Mills has had to learn not only her new teammates' idiosyncrasies, but also learn a totally new basketball system taught by Gulf coach Mike Quarto.

"I'm just now feeling comfortable," Mills said.

It's showing. Mills scored a game-high 22 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and often found open teammates underneath for easy buckets.

The visiting Wildcats had no answer for Mills.

"Since this is my first year, when the season started I really didn't know how everyone played," Mills said.

She does now.

She scored eight of her 22 points in the fourth quarter when Wesley Chapel made a comeback bid. Trailing 48-31 after Mills scored on a pass from Jessica Melgard-Cyman, Wesley Chapel (21-2) cut the lead to 50-41 on Phylicia Lennox's 3-pointer and a free throw from Gabrielle Brown with 3:38 left.

"She did a phenomenal job," Quarto said.

A portion of Wesley Chapel's comeback was due to Gulf not being able to get the ball over the Wildcats' press. Once that was taken care of, so too was Wesley Chapel's threat.

"We did a great job defensively," Quarto said. "We held one of the better scoring teams in the area to 43 points."

Wesley Chapel coach Karim Nohra blamed himself for not coaching a good game and looking past Gulf for the districts.

"This is what happens when you do something like that against a good team like Gulf," Nohra said. "I blame myself."

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