WESLEY CHAPEL - At least Wesley Chapel proved this much: It is vastly improved. In athleticism and speed, in heart and attitude, the Wildcats have leaped beyond the mediocrity of the past.
But Ridgewood proved something, too. When it comes to playing the smartest and toughest basketball in Pasco County, no one can beat the Rams. Certainly not Wesley Chapel, which fell 62-43 at home Friday in a key Class 4A, District 10 contest.
Ridgewood (5-0) has won its past three against its top district foes, Gulf and Wesley Chapel, and top Sunshine Athletic Conference rival, Land O'Lakes. But Rams coach Greg Bollinger said it was just business as usual for the defending champions.
"We don't put a lot of emphasis on it," he said. "We know we have 10 district games and 15 conference games. We can't put any emphasis on one or the other.
"We want to win them all."
Trailing after a hard-fought first quarter, Wesley Chapel (3-2) saw the game slip away in the second. During a two-minute span, Jen Barrett scored three consecutive baskets, the last after stealing a wild pass to make it 28-15 with 3:14 left. Crystal Ayers' behind-the-back driving layup with four seconds left made it 35-24 at halftime.
It got out of hand in the third, when the lead grew to as much as 16 thanks to two Stephanie Carbone free throws and a steal and layup by Ayers and Barrett.
The Rams' post game came up big. Carbone scored 16 points and was 8-of-9 at the line while Nina Bonaparte had six steals, five rebounds and four assists. Ayers had 14 points. Barrett had 12 points, and Jamie Surmin had six assists.
Wesley Chapel's Amy Lopez scored 15, dropping three treys. Brenna Lane had 10 points, and Sami Polston had five assists at the point in place of freshman Sthefany Thomas, who is in Argentina with her family.
Thomas' scoring and ball-handling was missed by a Wildcats team that wilted against the Rams' aggressive press, which racked up 25 steals. But how much of a difference could the talented freshman have made?
"Irregardless if she's here or not, we have to play without her," Wildcats coach Mark Kopp said. "We can't rely on her to do everything for us.
"(Ridgewood) has eight seniors. They haven't lost a county game in two years. We fought them as well as we could. What it came down to, honestly, I don't consider that they really, truly beat us. We beat ourselves. They put pressure on us, and we couldn't handle it. We had more than 30 turnovers.
"It was horrible play on our part. We just didn't step up and make any plays."
