The race for the best team in Sarasota County is on. North Port bested Riverview in a closely played final that ended 57-53. Despite having played a game fifteen minutes prior to the finals, RHS gave the tournament host’s all they could handle and were within 2 points of the lead with less than two minutes left. Noriega and Robbins, former middle school teammates, played exceedingly well in a matchup between county rivals. However the rest of the tournament was nothing in comparison to the final game. Due to the talent difference between the teams the entire tournament was very predictable. The teams that played were: North Port, Riverview, Charlotte, Ida Baker, Out of Door, Mariner, Estero, and North Port’s JV team. Moments of playoffs level action were few and far between, however that does not mean that there was not anything worth noticing.
For one, life after Noriega looks a lot better than a lot of people would have guessed. A year from now the Bobcats will be returning 2010’s Bensly Melindor 6’5’’ BF and Jonny Ocasio 6’4’’ WF/BF, 2011 Kasey Wilson 6’5’’ WG/WF, and 2012’s Larry Taylor 5’9’’ WG and Keenan Chapman 6’0’’ WG/WF, with a year of strength building and experience under their belt do not expect much of a drop off when Noriega leaves for Tampa. All of the players had decent tournaments and Noriega and his Bobcats brought home the gold. Melindor is a long kid with high energy. He is extremely fast for his size; he runs the floor like a gazelle. He needs to get more involved offensively, but defensively he does a great job of altering shots and crashing the boards. He is a threat for a massive put back on any missed shot and is deceptively strong and is very long. Ocasio is a big kid with a great touch from the outside. He has decent footwork down low and a high release of the ball. He needs to be more aggressive; he settles for fade-aways far too often and needs to be getting to the free throw line. The sky is the limit for Kasey Wilson. He is a great character kid with the game to match. He can play well from anywhere on the court and makes a living blocking shots defensively. He can shoot but he needs to work on his consistency as well as his ball handling in order to complete his game. It is too early to tell with Taylor and Chapman, but Taylor is a quick guard with the ability to pull up from anywhere. He is very sound defensively, but will probably get thrown around a little during his first year due to his lack of size. Chapman is a long kid who really needs to bulk up if he is going to develop. He does a great job of slashing through traffic, although he needs to work on his body control when finishing around the rim. He needs to get faster and bigger but he could have an extremely bright future ahead of him. Of course arguably the area’s best player, Shaun Noriega 6’4’’ WG and USF Commit, did not disappoint during the week. What was really notable was that during the last day of play, tournament play, it was clear that he stepped up his game and shouldered a lot more of the work load for his team. He shot lights out and showed great control and use of his body when driving to the rim. The home team had a great three days.
For Riverview the future is now. The team is composed of 11 seniors, so for this generation of Rams it is now or never. Derek Robbins 6’1’’ PG/WG looked fantastic. He is deceptively quick running through screens and is fantastic at finding space behind the defense. He has range to the arc and was extremely competent at taking over the game for his team whenever they needed big plays. John Bowers 6’2’’ PG looked a lot less like a spot up shooter and a lot more like a point guard when he was responsible for getting the team into their offense. The system looks better than ever and Sarasota HS transfer Matt Conway 6’6’’ BF/WF could not fit in more perfectly. He runs the high post to perfection and looks like he is much happier playing with this team. He is automatic with his jump shot all the way out past the free throw line, and he has the size and strength to bruise down low. If the team continues to gel like they have been recently, they will be very dangerous when the season picks up in a few months.
The future is also bright for Charlotte. Led by Nick Goshay 6’3’’ WF/BF, the Tarpons have a lot of underclassman on this team. The leaders of the team: Goshay and Jake Foley WG are both only rising juniors. They will also expect big contributions from a number of 2011 players, including D.J. Scott (not in attendance for the tourney) and 6’3’’ WF Alex Mut . While you can always expect the Tarpons to be competitive and a team that can sneak up on anybody on any given night, I do think that this will be a tough year for them and possibly the first time in the school’s history that they will lose to North Port. Goshay had a remarkable tournament. He ripped apart Estero for 26 points, and had a number of memorable plays including a huge alley-oop jam against eventual champions North Port. He has great range for his size, and has great mechanics, jumping straight up and down when he shoots in order to get maximum elevation. He needs to prove he has more of a mid range game and he needs to do a better job of picking his spots. He plays great help defense and is always creating havoc for the shooter whether it is blocking the shot or getting his hands up. 2010’s D.J. Edwards runs the floor extremely well and had a number of easy baskets in transition just because of his hustle down the court. Defensively he does a good job deflecting passes. The North Port transfer could have a bright future ahead of him if he continues to improve his shooting and his ball handling.
Ida Baker has the talent but there is definitely something missing. The majority of their varsity players were not there for the first day of action, but a few of them showed up as the tournament wore on. John Skinner 6’5’’ WF showed flashes of his high potential but still faded to the back at critical times of the tournament. He needs to develop the ability to completely take command of a game. Too many times he just waits for his teammates to get him involved, instead he needs to seize control and put his natural gifts to work. He shot it relatively well, even hitting a number of threes. He also proved to be the most electrifying player of the tournament, in that he ripped down a number of memorable dunks. Xavier Battle had a great tournament. The athletic speed demon proved he has the ability to create shots for himself and has the quick release to complement that speed well. He has a great shot and can knock it down all day from the top of the arc. He really needs to become more of a distributor on offense when he runs the point. However if Skinner keeps refusing to take over games, look for Battle to take a few big shots in some clutch situations for his team.
SWFLHoops.com picks for All-North Port Shootout Team
- Derek Robbins, Riverview, PG/WG
- Shaun Noriega, Northport, WG
- Nick Goshay, Charlotte, BF/WF
- John Skinner, Ida Baker, WF
- Matt Conway, Riverview, WF/BF
North Port Shootout Recap
Jacob Alley
SWFLHoops.com
June 27, 2008
Site-specific editorial/photos ©2008 SWFLHoops.com. 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
