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Preps

Rams turn tables on Wildcats

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Wesley Chapel is ranked No. 1 in the Class 3A state poll. Against the Rams, though, the Wildcats have always been No. 2.

Ridgewood defeated Wesley Chapel 63-57 in Tuesday's highly anticipated Sunshine Athletic Conference bout that lived up to every bit of the hype.

The Rams, ranked No. 5 in the 4A poll, did it by turning the Wildcats' patented fastbreak attack against them. Ridgewood used a 22-4 second-half run to decide it.

Rams playmaker Chris Halkitis scored 11 of his team-high 23 points during that run and nine in the fourth quarter while going 4-of-6 from the line.

"It was big, beating the No. 1 team in (3A)," Halkitis said. "But we didn't look at it like that. We look at it as a conference opponent, a quality opponent who we're going up against. We just did what we had to to win the ballgame."

But there must be more to it than that.

Add Halkitis' 10 assists and 5 steals to his 23 points in front of a packed home crowd, and it's obvious there's something about the Wildcats that brings out the best in the senior point guard.

"I think it's because they pressure me," he said. "That means I get to push the ball, I get to see if I can dribble through their press, and that gets me going when I start pushing it."

Ridgewood coach Gary Anders is a traditionalist at heart, preferring a more deliberate style of play. His team swept Wesley Chapel, a state semifinalist, last season to win the SAC by slowly controlling the tempo in each second half.

Tuesday, Anders won because his team played the kind of full-throttle tempo Wildcats coach Kent Mills likes.

"They controlled the tempo and Halkitis controlled the game," Mills said. "He shot the ball well, he handled the ball well. We made him make mistakes at times but not enough. He controlled the game. My hat's off to Chris, he played a heck of a ballgame."

Said Anders: "The team we've got, these kids can run. We have the quickness in (Brandon) Presley and (Brendon) Geronimo, and Halkitis can handle the ball, so I'm going to let them go some.

"We will run."

Wesley Chapel led by six when Ridgewood made its run. Lack of 3-point production crippled the usually hot-shooting Wildcats, who sank no treys in the first half and only four total -- seven less than their season average.

David Simpson led Wesley Chapel (19-2) with 14 points and Zach Mills had 13. Ridgewood (22-1) got 13 big points out of Geronimo and nine points and 20 rebounds from Andrew Reed.

The Wildcats had the lead down to six with 59 seconds left. But Geronimo sealed it 10 seconds later with this play: Breaking the press, he went the distance to sink a short jumper that floated over the outstretched arm of a leaping Simpson to make it 58-50.

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