Bucs' run surprises Feldman

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Gulf fended off two recent challenges to retain its district lead, but the Buccaneers came up short in the conference race.

Wesley Chapel and Gulf each have 17 wins overall, but the Wildcats beat the Bucs 83-76 on Friday to overtake them in the Sunshine Athletic Conference race. Gulf could take solace with wins over Class 4A, District 8 rivals Ridgewood and Mitchell.

Moreover, Tuesday's 57-56 overtime win over the Rams gave Gulf two-game sweeps of Ridgewood and defending district and conference champion Land O'Lakes.

If someone would have asked Gulf coach Steve Feldman if he could have pulled off those sweeps before the season started, Feldman said, "I would have looked at them with incredulous looks with, "Where are you going from with this?' "

With a 14-13 record last year and the loss of all-conference post player Nate Goad to graduation, things looked bleak for the Bucs. But Craig Pridemore, kicked off the team last season by Feldman, returned with a vengeance. The senior center averages 15.2 points and 9.1 rebounds a game and is a chief reason for Gulf's turnaround.

"You have to remember," Feldman said, "my mind-set going into this season was that Pridemore was not going to factor into this team. Without Goad, I couldn't figure out where the points and rebounds were going to come from."

But Pridemore hung around for Gulf's summer league games and came out for tryouts, impressing Feldman with his solid play, hustle and positive attitude.

"I'm glad he was as persistent and stubborn as I was," Feldman said. "He just kept coming around and working."

HOT CATS: No team in the county is hotter than Wesley Chapel, which has five straight wins and has won 10 of its last 11 games.

"I'm not saying we're peaking, but we're certainly playing hard basketball every night," coach Kent Mills said.

Balance has been instrumental in the Wildcats' run to the top of the SAC and Class 3A, District 10 standings.

While they do not have a player among the top 10 scorers in the county, four Wildcats average double figures in scoring -- Tyrone Tomlin (12.1), Dave Simpson (12.0), Zach Mills (11.8) and Eric Sorensen (11.1).

"On any given night, you can count on two or three of them stepping up," coach Mills said. "We have a lot of people who are able to shoot the basketball and that makes it hard for defenses to stop."

DOUBLE DIGITS: Not since the 1992-93 season has a Hudson team reached double figures in victories. Coach Steve Casel said his current team is about to end that dubious streak.

The Cobras have nine wins and six regular-season games remaining and while matching that 1992-93 squad's 17 wins is out of reach, becoming the first Hudson team since to win at least 10 is not.

"We feel like we ought to end up with it," Casel said of winning at least 10 games.

"We're starting to make progress. This school is no longer the cream puff of the county."

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