Gulf leads much of the way, but the always-powerful Rams take charge in the fourth.
By JAMAL THALJI
Published December 6, 2003
NEW PORT RICHEY - The present collided with the future on Friday night.
The present barely got away.
Ridgewood held off Gulf - yes, Gulf - in a 55-50 victory, rallying for the win after falling behind by five and trailing the entire third quarter.
The host Rams (3-0) are the class of Pasco County, going 50-10 the past two seasons, 25-4 last season, and winning five consecutive district and four straight conference crowns.
The Buccaneers (1-1) have long been the county's doormat, going 2-42 the past two seasons and 2-19 last season.
All that's out the window now for these Class 4A, District 10 and Sunshine Athletic Conference rivals. Gulf twice beat Ridgewood in the summer league, once without Ram stars Crystal Ayers and Jen Barrett. It was those two who turned the tide against rebuilt Gulf, which was led by freshman Dominique English and sophomore center Tiara Cook.
In the fourth, point guards English and Ayers put on a show. But it was Ayers, the senior heading to San Jose State, who showed the most, scoring 13 of her team-high 24 points in that quarter, going 5-of-6 at the line.
English led the Bucs with 19, scoring 10 in the fourth. She had to carry the team without Cook, who fouled out after scoring 15.
"She can ball, she had a good game," Ayers said of her rival, English. "It was just going back and forth between us.
"But then it was time, I said to myself. I wanted to come out with the "W.' "
Barrett tied the game by dropping a trey with 56.7 seconds left in the third, then knocking down two of three foul shots to tie it at 34. But when Barrett fouled out in the fourth with 21 points Ridgewood coach Greg Bollinger called on Ayers to take the game over. She did, converting two 3-point plays in the final minutes.
Gulf was behind by as much as eight with 2:20 left, but English, playing with four fouls since the second quarter, kept her team in it. But she missed a lay-up with 22.4 seconds left as her team clung to a 3-point lead.
"We should have won it," English said. "I mean, it's my fault, missing that lay-up at the end. But we think we should have won it.
"We're still young. We're still learning to play with each other. This is a learning process."
The Bucs had their chances, but going 18-of-27 at the line and missing a host of field goals did them no good.
"No doubt about it, we definitely had our opportunities," first-year Gulf coach Mike Quarto said. "But Crystal was great down the stretch. She was a Division I point guard down the stretch."
