Lost in the Ocala Forest

Just as the other three teams in the Class 5A, District 7 Tournament, Central High just needed a win in Tuesday's semifinals at Springstead High to earn a regional berth.

Unfortunately for the Bears, they had to get through top-seeded Ocala-Forest, a difficult enough task just going up and down the court.

The Wildcats turned a bevy of steals into a huge lead in the blink of an eye, cruising to a 70-21 victory over fourth-seeded Central.

"It showed out there when you to play a bunch of underclassmen that haven't played much against a team of well-disciplined upperclassman," Central Head Coach Craig Witte said. "When you've got a bunch of freshmen and sophomores going up against juniors and seniors, it's hard to compete sometimes."

Big lead early

Forest (22-2) put the Bears (4-19) at a 14-0 deficit midway though the first quarter, before Jessi Siri knocked down a three-pointer to break the run.

James Williams had eight points in that initial burst, and posted 12 points and four steals in the opening period. The Wildcats collected 11 steals combined to lead 28-5.

The advantage swelled to 54-13 at halftime, initiating a running clock throughout the second half. Forest finished with 31 steals, and 11 different players scored at least two points.

Williams finished with 17 points and five steals. Daniel Franklin had 11 points and Marquise Pritchett tallied 10. Anthony Oats added six steals.

Siri's five points made him the Bears' high scorer and he also contributed three steals. Casey Ellis grabbed eight rebounds to go with two steals and a block.

"We've lost a lot of players the last couple weeks, we've had issues with players not coming to practice," said Witte, finishing his first year at the school. "The guys that came out and made the effort got the playing time.

"...We had ups and downs. We had high expectations coming in. We weren't sure what we were getting into. We didn't have a lot coming back. When you're playing inexperienced guys you'll have bumps in the road. You've got to play hard and play through them. We'll be better in the future for this."

OCALA-FOREST 70, CENTRAL 21
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Central 5 8 4 4 - 21
Forest 28 26 12 4 - 70
Central (21): Siri 2 0-0 5, McCarty 1 1-2 4, Ellis 2 0-0 4, Bennett 1 0-2 2, Frazier 0 1-2 1, Merrill 1 0-0 3, Stewart 0 2-2 2, Stokes 0, Leon 0, Pendulick 0. Totals 7 4-8 21.
Forest (70): Pritchett 5 0-0 10, Caban 1 0-0 2, LeBlanc 0, Janey 2 0-0 4, Williams 8 1-3 17, Franklin 5 0-0 11, Oats 3 0-0 6, Graham 2 1-1 5, Werner 0 5-6 5, Hubbard 1 2-4 4, Davis 2 0-1 4, Harris 1 0-0 2, Yount 0, Wood 0, Cordrey 0. Totals 30 9-15 70.
Three-point field goals: CEN 3 (Siri, McCarty, Merrill); FOR 1 (Franklin).
Total fouls: CEN 14; FOR 11.
Technical fouls: none.
Fouled out: Ellis (CEN).
Records: Central (4-19), Ocala-Forest (22-2).