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Who's Number One?

4A BOYS BASKETBALL

Photo by JOE DiCRISTOFALO

Even an off-balanced Domnique Roberson scored 10 points and was a force on the glass against Ocala-West Port. Roberson and his teammates face the state’s No. 1 ranked team, the Pensacola Tigers, in the Class 4A State semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at The Lakeland Center.

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: March 4, 2009

Any other season, the idea of Springstead High defeating the No. 1 ranked team in the state would likely draw a definitive response: no way, no how.

But one thing has become abundantly clear – this is not just any other season for the Eagles. Not when they're 30-0, including county, district and regional champions and one of only a handful of teams still alive in the state.

Today at 2:30 p.m., ninth-ranked Springstead faces top-ranked Pensacola High in a Class 4A semifinal at The Lakeland Center, a game away from the previously unthinkable: a shot at the state crown.

"It's a critical opportunity to go on and realize our last goal, which is to win a state title," Springstead Head Coach Pat Kelly said. "They created that opportunity. Our kids, I don't think they have any nervousness about them. The reason they're in this position is they just come out and try to play."

Tigers earn stripes

Unlike Springstead, making its first Final Four appearance, Pensacola (29-5) has a long history of reaching this level.

From 1924-1973 the Tigers advanced to the state Final Four 33 times, collecting four state championship (1945, 1952, 1964, 1966). Since that period, they've returned only one other time, in 2004.

However, Pensacola has four senior starters held over from last season's squad that reached the Sweet 16 and played a brutal schedule both in the regular season and playoffs.

That included a 71-50 loss to Biloxi High, a Final Four team out of Mississippi, and the rugged Kingdom of the Sun Christmas tournament in Ocala, where the Tigers finished 2-2.

But the Region I Tournament provided the truest test of Pensacola's mettle. The Tigers defeated eighth-ranked Tallahassee-Godby (60-48), second-ranked Tallahassee-Rickards (41-40) and fifth-ranked Jacksonville-Andrew Jackson (75-69).

"We're playing our best basketball right now, so we'll see," Pensacola Head Coach Bob Stinnett said. "I can't complain with how we're playing right now. I just hope it continues.

"…In November and December, when we'd win but we were winning ugly, I thought I'd lost my mind (creating such a tough schedule). But somehow when we came back from Kingdom of Sun, it just clicked.

"For us to get where we are right now, it turns out our schedule was imperative for us. If we wouldn't have played the schedule we had in the regular season, I think we'd have lost somewhere along the way."

Stinnett, only in his second year with the Tigers but a veteran mentor who once served as an assistant at Louisiana State University, spent so much time trying to get his club through the region he admittedly has had no time to scout Springstead.

"It sounds like we're a lot alike," Stinnett said. "We don't press as much as they do, but we get up and down the floor. We're both intense, very quick, very athletic. It sounds like we're a carbon copy of each other."

What Pensacola does have, that at this point the Eagles do not, is two Division I signees along the frontline in 6-foot-5 Terrance Beasley (Florida International) and 6-foot-6 Erin Straughn (East Carolina).

Physically these two seniors are similar to Springstead's 6-foot-5 senior sensation, Isaiah Mason, who has been heavily scouted by St. Petersburg College.

"Like a lot of great players, they do a lot of things," Stinnett said. "They're very quick, very athletic, very agile. They can shoot it, put in on the floor, pass it. They're pretty good in all facets of the game.

"…They're an integral part of what we do, but we don't go to them. They're so athletic and active; they get more rebounds, interceptions, stuff like that. But we've got 5-6 kids we go through. We're hard to play because you can't just stop 1-2 people. You can't stop Beasley and Erin and shut us down."

Just as he did against West Port, Kelly stressed that the Eagles would attempt to negate Pensacola's interior talent with team defense, or in his words, "five against the ball."

Springstead executed that game plan to perfection in Saturday's regional final, keeping the Wolf Pack from ever establishing their offense with its trademark defensive intensity.

No one has defeated the Eagles yet primarily because no one can consistently break their suffocating press. Stinnett said that type of defense is one the Tigers have had plenty of experience going up against.

"Everybody up here presses," Stinnett said. "It's not going to be anything we haven't seen. Now, whether we handle it is a different story. Every team and every player is different."

Stinnett said his squad mostly stays in a man-to-man defense, though curiously Kelly said the Tigers press more than other teams.

Of course Kelly would not commit to the Eagles employing a press today, though that defense has served as their bread-and-butter throughout the season.

What's in a ranking?

But what about being ranked No. 1? Stinnett doesn't put much stock in its value, and felt Springstead's ninth-place ranking was somewhat disrespectful considering the Eagles' spotless record.

"You do not get to be 30-0 by not being good," Stinnett said. "It takes a special team."

It's worth noting that because of the shear size of Florida, it's impossible to have first-hand information on every team.

Rankings are largely dependent on reputation and word-of-mouth, and Springstead lacked the history and trademark wins that would catch a voter's eye.

Last year, Lecanto went into regionals ranked first and lost in the semifinals. So it doesn't always assure a great postseason run.

"It (the number one ranking) means absolutely, positively nothing to us," Stinnett said. "It's just a number and a ranking and the thing I don't like about it, it puts a bull's eye on your back."

Fact is, Pensacola can be and has been beaten. Pensacola-Pine Forest split with the Tigers, beating them 66-58 on Dec. 20.

"We shot the ball very well," Pine Forest Head Coach Dwayne Louis said. "They were able to make twos and we consistently made threes.

"You got to make plays. You've got to make plays. You've got be consistent on the defensive end, on the offensive end. It takes a team effort to beat them."

Terrance Harris, head coach at district-rival Pensacola-Washington, believes the Tigers' strength comes with chemistry.

"I think it's their experience of playing together," Harris said. "I think those kids have played together for quite some time. They're a pretty experienced group."

Still, Pensacola doesn't have experience this deep into the postseason and had to make an eight-hour trek down to Polk County.

"I think we're focused, but at times this year I thought we were ready to play and we weren't," Stinnett said. "It's a hard team for me to read right now. We're in uncharted territory and I don't know how we'll do in uncharted territory. So we'll find out Thursday, I guess."

Springstead won't have to travel nearly as far, but won't have the homecourt advantage it enjoyed throughout regionals.

Because The Lakeland Center has a bigger court than the Eagles' gym, Kelly has had them practicing from wall-to-wall.

"It'll be a nice court to play on," Kelly said. "It'll be a nice experience for these kids to play in that atmosphere."

Still on a mission

The Eagles aren't just looking for a nice experience, though. They aren't just happy to there.

Yes, they celebrated their regional championship by dumping a water cooler over Kelly's head. But after the game, they gave the outward impression of a group still very much on a mission.

The winner of this game will play either Bartow or Cocoa, who play in the other semifinal tonight at 7 p.m., in Saturday's 3:30 p.m. state title tilt.

Suddenly, the idea of Springstead knocking off the number one team, finishing off a perfect season and hoisting a state championship trophy doesn't seem so unrealistic.

"I don't think our kids have an underdog mentality," Kelly said. "They've got a hard knocks mentality. Earn everything you get. Give maximum effort every time you step on the floor or be in a dogfight.

"If you play against Springstead, it'll be a tough game, and I'm sure it's the same way with Pensacola."

AT A GLANCE
WHAT: 2009 FHSAA Class 4A semifinal.
WHO: Pensacola Tigers (29-5, 4A-I champions) vs. Springstead Eagles (30-0, 4A-II champions).
WHEN: Thursday, 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Lakeland Center.
AT STAKE: Spot in March 7 state championship game against Bartow/Cocoa winner.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Pensacola (Bob Stinnett, 2nd year) – F Erin Straughn (Sr), F Terrance Beasley (Sr), F Tevin Lutley (Sr), G Quan Johnson (So), PG Chris Edwards (Sr); Springstead (Pat Kelly, 2nd year) – C Isaiah Mason (Sr), F Addison O'Neil (Jr), F Domnique Roberson (Sr), G Nick Steadman (Jr), PG Dante Valentine (Sr).

Sports writer Chris Bernhardt Jr. can be reached at 352-544-5288 or cbernhardt@hernandotoday.com.

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