Bears want end of bad play to come to pass

If there's a way to commit a turnover, you can bet Central coach John Sedlack has seen it this season.

Through 16 games, the Bears have committed 377 (23.6 per game), compared to 271 for their opponents.

A sampling from Tuesday night's 67-49 loss to Citrus:

"I watched the ball hit guys' hands and fall off their chests," Sedlack said. "I watched good passes they don't even reach for. You post it up, you want the ball, the guy gives you the ball and it goes off your shins and you don't catch it.

"We try to throw it through people. We're leaving our feet to throw passes. We've got a senior center that leaves the floor 8 feet from the basket and throws it to a sophomore that doesn't even know what's happening out of bounds.

"They're not taught that," Sedlack said. "I don't know where they're getting it from."

Much of Central's problem stems from inexperience.

The Bears often start freshman Alex Ruoff and sophomore Andy Sedlack or Sedlack and Gerado Uribe -- a junior in his first varsity season -- in their backcourt. Sophomores Juan Soto and Ermine Lewis back them up.

The result has been maddeningly inconsistent play.

At times, Central (5-12) has performed on par with some of the best teams in west central Florida. At other times, the Bears have been beaten by some of the worst.

Central led Gulf for most of 31/2 quarters before falling 51-43 in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference/Sunshine Athletic Conference Shootout on Jan. 12.

The Bears finished the job against Hernando, fighting back from a six-point, first-quarter deficit to win 61-56 on Jan. 15.

But they handed Williston its first home victory, 65-60, on Jan. 4 and lost 58-54 to a 3-11 Springstead team on Jan. 11.

After falling 87-35 to Leesburg (ranked seventh in Class 4A) on Friday night, Central committed 25 turnovers against Citrus -- 12 in the second quarter -- to key a 10-0 Hurricanes' run.

It's enough to drive a coach crazy.

"It's awful frustrating sitting there," John Sedlack said. "We talk about turnovers until we're blue in the face. It's killed us the whole year."

ON A ROLL: A 58-48 loss to winless River Ridge on Jan. 12 dropped Springstead eight games below .500 for the second time this season.

But rather than get down on themselves, the Eagles (7-12) responded with a season-high three-game win streak.

The key was finding support for leading scorers Jeff Hill and Emory Strachan.

Senior guard Rob Wallace complemented Hill's 22 points and 13 rebounds with 16 points, 5 assists and 4 steals in a 73-63 victory over Hudson on Jan. 14.

When Hernando packed its 2-3 zone around Strachan (13 points, 15 rebounds) on Jan. 17, it opened things up outside for Darren Hedges.

The sophomore guard responded with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in Springstead's 57-54 win.

Junior forward Christian Concepcion played his most complete game of the season Friday night against Mitchell, contributing 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in a 66-55 victory.

"What's happening now, it's like somebody else is stepping up," Eagles coach Scott Bennett said. "That's how you win."

SIDELINED: Central played without center Willie Winslett, its leading scorer (15.4 points per game) and second-leading rebounder (6.4 rpg), the past two games.

Winslett, who's being recruited to play football, missed the Leesburg game to visit Bethune-Cookman College.

He watched the Citrus game in street clothes after missing Monday's practice.

"The kid's got to take his visits, and we understand that," Sedlack said.

"We're trying to work with him and have him work with us. But (Monday), he just didn't come to practice."

Winslett missed Central's first game against Citrus, a 77-65 loss on Dec. 21, for violating a team rule.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD: Central's Uribe was on crutches after spraining an ankle in physical education class Friday.

Uribe, who twisted the ankle playing basketball, will be out "for a while," Sedlack said.

Lewis, a junior varsity call-up, replaced Uribe.

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