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Wilson Impressive in Bobcats' Season Opener
By: Aaron Seybert
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
NORTH PORT, FL-- North Port comes into the season with a solid group of young talent and looking to continue the success they had last season, reaching the Regional Playoffs for just the second season in school history. However, the visiting Sarasota Christian Blazers had something else in mind to start the game, but in the end North Port pulled away and improved to 1-0 on the season with a 60-37 win.
The Blazers, who are also coming off the best season in school history themselves, controlled a somewhat sloppy first quarter, taking a 7-0 lead to open it up. North Port looked like a team struggling to find a rhythm at the outset, missing a few layups and forcing some drives to the hoop that ended with no good outcomes, before finally getting on the board on a three pointer by junior forward Kasey Wilson. However at the end of the first period the Blazers were ahead 14-8.
In the second quarter though North Port seemed to settle in and started to assert themselves on the defensive end, holding the visitors to just five points in the second frame, while notching eleven points on their end to take a 20-19 advantage at halftime.
When the teams came back out to start the third quarter, North Port decided to turn up the pressure a little bit, pressing the Blazers, which in turn allowed the Bobcats to get their transition offense rolling. The end result was a 16-3 run in the first few minutes which included an All-Star gamesque alley oop off the backboard from sophomore guard Larry Taylor to Wilson, who emphatically jammed the assist home and sent the fans onto their feet. By the end of the third, the game had been blown open thanks to the Bobcats outscoring the Blazers 23-4 during the quarter and took a 43-23 lead into the fourth.
Wilson, who spent the offseason working on becoming more than just a post threat by honing his perimeter skills and shooting, made 3 of 6 from behind the arc and finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks. Taylor played very under control and proved he is more than just a shooter with multiple driving layups, notching 10 points in total to go along with 4 assists and 3 steals. Other contributors were Dauntae Johnson with 7 points and 7 boards, point guard Eric Litvin added 9 points, and junior Chris Byler and senior Darnell Antoine (7 points) both played well coming off the bench.
For Sarasota Christian, senior Chase Miller scored a game-high 24 points including 3 treys of his own, while Trevor Talkie and Justin Helmuth chipped in with 8 points apiece.
North Port looked like a team that could be very dangerous if they can find their rhythm consistently offensively and find some guys that are going to do the dirty work. They return to action on December 1st when they travel to Sarasota Booker for a non-district contest.
Sarasota Christian will take a couple lumps early as they graduate a lot from a very good team that won a District Title a season ago, but they have some guys who can make plays on both ends of the floor as their leaders in Miller and Talkie. They are always very well coached by Phil Helmuth, and will most likely be right in the mix for a district title again this year when it is all said and done in District 1A-10. The Blazers will open up district play next Monday when they host Southwest Florida Christian Academy at 6 pm.
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