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A balance of power

Coaches believe competition in Pasco County is becoming stronger and more level.

By IZZY GOULD
Published November 27, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Many of Pasco County's high school gymnasiums are worn and ready for an extreme makeover.

The older venues share a cookie-cutter design - creaky pullout bleachers rising on one side with a stage shadowing both team benches.

The once fresh-cut wood floors now share a yellow tint. The paint is faded, dull due to age and the thousands of sneakers that have squeaked across its face. The walls have soaked in decades of basketball.

The perception within the county and beyond its borders is many of those games are worth forgetting.

More than 40 years have passed since Pasco County last fielded a state title team. And though Division-I coaches are fixtures in fertile basketball towns, their appearance in this area is virtually nonexistent.

There's optimism Pasco County is developing a stronger basketball reputation for the long term. Many local coaches believe team parity throughout the county - particularly this season - is a promising indicator county basketball is gaining strength.

"It was no fluke when Kent Mills put Wesley Chapel in the final four in back-to-back years," Gulf coach Steve Feldman said. "That was excellent coaching at a school that was busting apart at the seams with athletes. Now what you'll see is teams maybe not win a state championship, but you'll see Pasco County teams go deeper into the state tournaments in the boys side. That's not going to be an aberration in the next two to three years. That's going to be the norm because Pasco has some depth and quality."

No team has enjoyed greater success than Zephyrhills. The Bulldogs were a juggernaut in the 1960s, winners of two state titles in 1962 and '64, and runnersup '60 and '66.

More recently it was Wesley Chapel's back-to-back state final four teams in 2001-02 and '02-03. But no Pasco County team has played for a state title since '64.

Mitchell coach Andy Schmitz was raised in Pasco County and attended River Ridge. He recalls a time when one or two teams bullied the county.

"In the (1990s) it was Pasco with all their athletes, and then Ridgewood," he said. "Those two teams dominated people. Now I don't think you can make that claim. ... Growing up people would be scared of going to Pasco and getting dunked on. I don't think there's that fear anymore."

Wesley Chapel coach Doug Greseth, who coached at Jefferson for four seasons, shared the same view when in Hillsborough County.

"When I was there the perception was there was one or two good teams," Greseth said. "That's not going to be the case this year. I think Pasco County teams can play with anybody. I don't see any dominant team out there. This is as good as it's been since I've been here."

Many coaches point to the influx of residents in recent years, in turn bringing more children and increasing the talent pool.

"Being an economics teacher I can certainly lay this one on you - land and housing prices in Pasco continue to be better than in Hillsborough and Pinellas," Feldman said. "In the law of supply and demand you're going to come up the road where you can get more house for your money. That brings some families with kids who happen to be athletically involved into our area. I looked at Hernando County and Hernando is where Pasco was three to five years ago. It just keeps working its way up. And in the next five to 10 years you'll see it move up to Citrus County. It's all predicated on the Suncoast Parkway, land and housing prices."

Some of the kids enter high school in ninth grade. Then there are transfer students, who often provide a quick fix to struggling teams or boost more powerful rosters.

Wesley Chapel was the beneficiary of two such transfers this season.

After losing the county's leading scorer in Chase Bussey to graduation, Greseth suddenly gained two talented senior transfers - Ashley Thomas and Saladeem Dewberry.

There's also the emphasis of offseason conditioning and summer leagues. Teams attend camps, participate in leagues and log hundreds of hours to improve in time for the high school season.

River Ridge played 108 games over the summer, giving players plenty of time to develop chemistry and fine-tune basic skills. Coaches no longer have to waste half the season teaching. But there are plenty of fine teaching coaches with plenty of coaching experience, giving Pasco County schools another edge.

Gary Anders has developed Ridgewood into a perennial local power during his 19 seasons as head coach. Land O'Lakes coach Dave Puhalski has logged 17 seasons, Feldman is in his 11th and Pasco's Poncho Broner will begin his sixth.

Greseth has coached seven seasons overall, including his four at Jefferson. And Zephyrhills coach Gene Pieper has them all beat, entering his 29th season overall. He coached 27 years at Wausaukee (Wis.) High where he led teams to five state final fours and a 1993 state championship.

Pieper enters his second season with the Bulldogs trying to clean up his 2-24 "rookie" season. His overall coaching record is 459-190.

"When I came into the county it was basically a two-dog race - Ridgewood and Wesley Chapel," Pieper said. "They were the powers. The first year I was down here I watched Wesley Chapel and they went to state that year. They just beat the living daylights out of most of the teams I saw them play."

Perhaps Mitchell's move to Class 6A, District 7 will be a better barometer of where Pasco County is headed.

The Mustangs are a senior-laden team - predicted by many to win the Sunshine Athletic Conference - lumped in a district with teams such as Alonso, Countryside, Gaither, St. Petersburg and Sickles. Their success or failure could validate or prove many Pasco County prognosticators wrong.

And if anyone needs proof there is parity in Pasco County, consider Ridgewood's 55-52 win against Mitchell on opening night. Anders said he was in a "rebuilding year."

"I think Pasco County is a very underrated county as far as basketball goes," Schmitz said. "We'll play some very tough teams in the county. Then for the district we have to go out of the county. We start out tough, but I don't know if it gets much easier."

-- Contact Izzy Gould at 813 909-4612 or sportsjournalist@gmail.com

[Last modified November 27, 2005, 11:53:24]