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More Bears now share the load

Replacing Alex Ruoff is a team project for Central, with five seniors counted on to take different roles.

By DAVID MURPHY
Published November 29, 2005

	[Times photo: Daniel Wallace]
	Justin Lewis is the top 3-point shooter for Central, and one of five seniors for the Bears, who are 1-1 going into tonight's game against Ridgewood.

BROOKSVILLE - Sitting in a vacant classroom across from the gymnasium at Central High on Monday afternoon, Bears forward Tim Plumadore explained the impact that a foot injury to star senior Alex Ruoff had on last year's team.

"I should have a fat ring on my finger," he said as he held up the back side of his right hand. "That's what I tell everybody."

But the Bears never rebounded from the loss of Ruoff and a team comprised mostly of juniors won just one game the rest of the season.

This year, though, the juniors are seniors, and with Ruoff in his freshman season at West Virginia (he scored his first collegiate points over the weekend against LSU), players like Plumadore and center Derek Lewis are already used to life without him.

"I think last year got us more ready for this year," said Jacobs, a 6-foot-2 center who scored 12 points Saturday in Central's 48-44 overtime win over Trinity Catholic. "It gave us a lot of experience."

For the first time in nearly a year, Central is a team again. After bluffing its way through the rest of last season and winning just three games over the summer, the Bears are formulating an identity.

The tall kid with the bald head is gone, and unlike last year, when Plumadore carried much of the scoring load, there isn't one player who will replace him.

There are those who are bigger and there are those who are stronger, those who are more fluid and those who are more fundamentally sound. But by and large, the only thing that distinguishes one Central player from the next is the number on the back of his uniform.

If there is a go-to player, Plumadore is he. If there is a rebounder, Jacobs is he. If there is a 3-point shooter, senior Justin Lewis is he.

Used to be that Ruoff was the best at all of them. Now, everyone has a share.

"I talked to this about Alex last year, and I said, in hindsight, if we knew Alex was going to get hurt, I would have rather had him get hurt before the season started than to have him for six games," Central coach John Sedlack said. "Because the thing that was obvious to everyone, is that to stop us, you had to stop Alex. Once he was gone, nobody had to stop him."

This year, though, everything is different. Even if, with very few new additions and six key contributors returning, it doesn't appear that way.

"It's kind of like the pressure is off now," Sedlack said. "This team belongs to the five seniors. It's about these guys now."

"These guys" are off to a 1-1 start, having split a couple of games over the weekend. Tonight, they face district opponent Ridgewood, which opened by stunning a powerful Mitchell team.

"If we play like we did over the weekend, we'll get beat," Plumadore. "But we know we're better than we've been playing."

And though that knowledge won't take the place of a ring, for now, it's good enough.

[Last modified November 29, 2005, 13:01:25]