When Jesuit High boys basketball coach Neal Goldman first heard that a good portion of his student body was going to wear costumes to Friday night's home game against rival Tampa Catholic, he wasn't too thrilled with the idea.
After all, when these teams met last month, Jesuit barely squeaked out a one-point win at TC. But after his squad demolished the Crusaders 64-28 this go-around, Goldman had to admit the sellout crowd of some 1,500 — as many as 200 of whom decked out in everything from your classic gorilla costume to the Mario Brothers — played a big part in the blowout victory.
"I've been coaching here forever but that crowd was as pumped up as I've ever seen it," said Goldman, who is in his 25th year. "We absolutely fed off it. They were our sixth man, our seventh man and our eighth man tonight."
Forward Travis Johnson led the way for the romp, scoring a game-high 18 points. But Jesuit's swarming defense was smothering, limiting the Crusaders to four points in the first quarter.
For the game, TC hit only one of 19 shots from the arc and made 10 of 41 from the floor .
Jesuit, No. 3 in the Class 5A state poll, improved to 23-1, the best start in Goldman's tenure at the school. Tampa Catholic (4A) fell to 16-8.
District play for both teams begins next week.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement
Advertisement