Fort Myers Controlled the Glass, and Now Controls 5A-15
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
By Aaron Seybert
SWFLHoops.com
Ida Baker Bulldogs @ Fort Myers Green Wave
FORT MYERS, FL— Heading into Wednesday night's match-up between the top two teams in District 5A-15 thus far, according to records in district contests, the Ida Baker Bulldogs and Fort Myers Green Wave were both finally on their way to finding indentities they had been looking for all season long. Baker had won 5 games in a row, including a double overtime come-back win against a streaking Desoto team Saturday at the Wally Keller Classic, and 6'4" senior wing John Skinner had finally been showing glimpses of having the ability and motivation to take over late in games. Fort Myers on the other hand, had won 4 of their last 5 but lost a tough one to an undefeated and state ranked Stuart Martin County team on Saturday at the Keller Classic, and the Wave were looking for some addition by subtraction within their lineup. With senior big man Josh Nicholas gone for the season for undisclosed reasons, the Wave have actually looked a little sharper due to the increased amount of spacing within the offense and an increased amount of intensity on the boards for the team as a whole.
Well, on Wednesday night, it was Baker's identity crisis that continued, as Fort Myers controlled the glass throughout the game outrebounding the Bulldogs 42-24 overall and 27-11 in the first half, in route to the 65-57 win. To the Bulldogs credit, the lead ballooned to as large as eighteen points with 6:38 left in the 4th quarter at 58-40, and although Baker made a valiant effort outscoring Fort Myers 17-7 in the final six minutes and change, it was just too little too late.
To start the game, it was actually Ida Baker who drew first blood on a layup by senior guard Ron Ward. However, Fort Myers ran off the next seven points, taking the lead they would not give back for the rest of the game.
As has been the case all too many times, the Bulldogs just simply dug themselves too deep of a hole to climb out of after the end of the first quarter. Fort Myers was outrebounding them 16-5, and the score at the end of the first period was 20-8 in favor of the Wave. Sophomore guard Evin Graham and junior guard/forward Colin Henry were spearheading the hot start, combining for 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first frame all by themselves. The Wave did a good job of getting back in transition defensively not allowing Baker point guard Xavier Battle to get his team many easy looks. And then when the shots did go up, it was very evident that the Green Wave players simply wanted the boards more, as too many times there were Bulldog players spectating, in particular John Skinner.
Skinner has all the tools athletically and has shown on numerous occasions why he is ranked in the top 5 in SWFL in his graduating class. However, he has a bad habit of dissappearing during stretches of ball games when his team needs him to play like he is the best player on the court, which he routinely should be. For instance, Wednesday night, Skinner did not get his first rebound of the game until the fourth quarter, when he made an athletic play to grab an offensive board and score the bucket. As a matter of fact, he scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and finished with just 3 rebounds. But it is clear that the Bulldogs are as good as any team in the area when Skinner decides to come to play, but when he doesn't, they struggle on the glass and offensively against teams with size and athleticism.
In the second quarter it was similar to the first frame, with Fort Myers increasing their lead to as much as 32-15 with 3:15 left before the half on a three pointer by James Whitfield from the corner. The sophomore guard came up big in the second quarter, scoring 8 of his 14 total points in the frame, including two from long-range and a driving layup. Even more important was that each of Whitfield's baskets were key for momentum. His first trey started the quarter, then his other two buckets came directly following a Baker basket.
The score at the end of the first half was Fort Myers 34, Baker 21. Skinner had 2 points and no rebounds. Senior forward Zach Campbell had 5 points and just 2 rebounds. Those stats alone tell the story as Skinner and Campbell are the team's leading scorers and rebounders with Skinner averaging 17.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per contest and Campbell checking in at 14 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Do the math and the problem is very evident. Give the Fort Myers defense and team credit as there was not a posession where there was not at least one body around or on these two guys as well as someone else going after the ball while at it's highest point. If it was not for the fact that Fort Myers put themselves into foul trouble and in turn put Baker on the line more than wanted, the score may have been out of hand already as the Bulldogs had only managed 5 field goals through the first 16 minutes of action.
The third quarter saw more of the same, with Baker senior guard Gabe Rodriguez doing his best to keep the game respectable, scoring 8 of his team-high 14 points in the quarter. However, he was still the only one getting any kind of rhythm, as his teammates only managed two other buckets for the quarter, and the score increased to 52-38 heading into the fourth. Fort Myers' Henry put in another 6 points of his own in the third, and he finished with a game-high 15 points to go along with 10 rebounds.
In the fourth, the Green Wave came out on a small 6-2 run to start, increasing their lead to the largest of the game at 58-40 with 6:38 to play. The Bulldogs would then wake up and put together a 14-4 run over the next 5 minutes, eventually cutting the lead to 62-54 on a layup by Ward with 1:17 left in the game. Then with around a minute to play, Baker was forced to foul and send the Wave to the free throw line, and Fort Myers did their best to allow the Bulldogs to have a chance, as Graham and Henry went a combined 1 for 4 from the stripe int he final minute, including misses of two front ends of 1 and 1 situations.
After a Graham miss of the second of two free throws, Baker's Campbell had a wide open look from deep and couldn't knock it down, which would have cut the lead to 63-57 with over 40 seconds or so remaining. Graham though misses the front end of his ensuing free throw attempt leaving the door open, but again Baker can not capitalize when Skinner misses a short jumper, so the score remains 63-54 when Henry is sent to the line for his chance to ice the game. However, he follows Graham's lead and misses the front end of the one and one with abotu 22 seconds remaining. This time, Xavier Battle brings the ball down court and nails a three pointer, cutting the lead to 63-57 with 18 seconds left in regulation.
Baker does their best to trap and cause a turnover in the full court but Fort Myers gets the ball down court quickly to junior Tyler Manning for a breakaway layup, increasing the margin to 65-57. Baker's next shot misses and the game ends.
For Baker, Rodriguez finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Campbell had 14 points and 6 rebounds as well. Skinner, as he always seems to do, snuck his way into the stat column with 13 points but only finished with 3 rebounds for the game, all in the fourth quarter, and none on the defensive end of the floor.
For Fort Myers, they had their usual balanced attack but were led by Henry who finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists. Graham checked in with 14 points, 7 rebounds , 3 steals and 3 assists as well. James Whitfield finished with 14 points on 6 for 8 shooting from the field, including 4-4 2 PT and 2-4 3 PT field goals. Terran "Buddy" McClendon played a balanced game on both the offensive and defensive ends, finishing with 10 points to go along with 9 rebounds and 3 steals.
Fort Myers will be back in action on Friday down in Key West and will then return to host district foe Barron Collier next Tuesday night.
Ida Baker will be back in action this Friday when they host Barron Collier in district action. Barron Collier is currently 14-6 and 3-2 in district 5A-15 action.
Site-specific editorial/photos ©2008 SWFL Hoops, Inc. All rights reserved. This website is an unofficial and independently operated source of news and information not affiliated with any school or team. Terms and Conditions Myspace Facebook YouTube Advertise with Us Contact Us About Us
Advertisement
