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Pace important to IRC, Blue Jackets

Indian Rocks Christian coach Joe Frost wants points from his team tonight against Admiral Farragut. Lots and lots of 'em.

What coach wouldn't? But for Frost, he knows the more points his team scores against the Blue Jackets, who would prefer a slower and lower-scoring game, the better its chance of winning.

"If you tell me today we were going to score 80 points, I'd be pretty happy," said Frost. "If you say we're going to have 45-50, I'd be extremely worried."

The Golden Eagles (30-3) are hoping for a repeat of their regional quarterfinal, when they sank 15 of 18 3-pointers to beat Lakeland Evangel. Led by guard Gabe McMillen -- averaging 26 points a game and the school's all-time leading scorer -- and Justin Bailey and Rob Hedger, Indian Rocks is a team that relies on its guard play and shooting prowess.

Admiral Farragut (24-6) hopes to lean on exactly the opposite -- 6-foot-5 forward Andres Kirchman and 6-8 Vitor Boccardo, who can also hit the jumper.

In an earlier meeting, Indian Rocks won 59-50, but Kirchman scored at will, Frost said, and the Blue Jackets' size gave the Golden Eagles fits.

Both coaches agree: Tonight's game is all about dictating pace.

"It's fair to say we'd prefer not to get into a running game with them. That's more to their strengths," Admiral Farragut coach Mike Wells said. "The key will be if we can control tempo and get good guard play. The big guys don't do you any good if the guards can't execute.

"I think we know what we have to do to win the ballgame. We'd like to take advantage of our size. Last time we played them, they sagged down. I would expect them to do that again and make our guards beat them."

Defensively, the Blue Jackets have slowed their last two opponents down, with mixed results. They lost to Northside Christian 49-38 in the district finals, but beat Naples St. John Neumann 48-43.

Wells would take his chances with a similar score tonight. Frost cringes at the thought.

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