Devlin quite an asset for Chiefs

By Times staff writers
Published January 7, 2006

James Devlin, the sharp-shooting wing from Chamberlain, notched his 1,000th career point in last week's Chamberlain Holiday Tournament.

Devlin hit the milestone when he nailed one of his 14 successful 3-pointers of the tournament. In both a 66-52 win over Riverview and 68-54 victory over Sickles, Devlin put both games out of reach with streak shooting.

In one three-minute stretch to start the second half against Riverview, Devlin scored 12 points and averaged 22 points a game.

Gaither went over the .500 mark with its fourth win in five games, edging Jefferson 65-59 on Tuesday. The Cowboys (7-6) outscored Jefferson in the second half 41-27 after falling behind by eight early in the game.

"We were able to get some steals and easy baskets off our press in the second half which helped us tremendously," Cowboys coach Dwayne Olinger said.

Gaither's free-throw shooting, however, was off. They made only 13-of-24 in the second half.

"Anytime you can go into Wharton's gym and win, it has to be considered a huge success," Sickles coach Renaldo Garcia said. "Wharton's coach ( Tommy) Tonelli has done nothing but win since he's been there so we are very proud of what our guys did."

Sickles edged the Wildcats 45-41 Wednesday.

"Give them credit," Tonelli said. "They came here and did what they had to do."

David Johnson's two free throws with five seconds remaining sealed Sickles' victory.

Here are the county's top teams:

1. Chamberlain (12-2): Doug Aplin has the Chiefs running smoothly. With Kylan Robinson back from an injury, James Devlin shooting 3-pointers and Mo Lightburn hitting the boards, the team is fulfilling Aplin's early-season prediction: "We could be a pretty good club."

2 Armwood (12-3): Coach Joe Morris has Jason Anthony (31 points in a win over Freedom on Thursday) and the Hawks on track. A big win over Wharton in district play has seemed to seriously pump up the Hawks.

3. Sickles (10-3): A ball-hawking zone defense has allowed the Gryphons to keep scores low. Jason Page has hit big shots while Mark Johnson has controlled the defensive boards, allowing opponents few second shots.

4. Wharton (9-4): The Wildcats lost close games to Sickles and Bloomingdale this week by a total of six points, missing 10 free throws in the two contests. Those games, however, were lost with starting guard Anthony Gomez sitting out due to a disciplinary charge for missing practice. Shawn Vanzant is the leader of this young club.

5. Jesuit (10-4): Thomas Kaiser will keep Jesuit in every game with his shooting and rebounding. Tommy Wyher, at 6-foot-4, is tough down low, especially off the defensive boards.

The good news for Plant City is it had already clinched the Class 6A, District 8 title by Christmas.

The bad news is the Raiders (7-3-2, 5-0-1 in 6A-8) have lost their top player for the remainder of the season.

Senior midfielder and team captain Cheyne Roberts (11 goals, seven assists) broke his jaw in a pickup game at Bradenton IMG Academy on Monday night and will be out for eight weeks, according to Raiders coach Trent Hobbs. In his stead, Colin Gill (seven goals, six assists) will have to step up. Plant City fell against Wharton 3-2 on Thursday.

U.S. U-17 men's national team player Jeremy Hall was in the stands for Gaither's 3-0 win over Alonso on Wednesday. He was not there to root on former U17 teammate Eddie Ababio, who notched two goals and leads the Cowboys with 11. He was there to cheer for his brother, Nicholas Hall, who is the Ravens' starting goalie and got a lot of action on Wednesday (nine saves).

Compiled by Times staff writer Scott Purks and correspondents Jim Reese and Jeremy Rasmussen.

[Last modified January 7, 2006, 01:25:29]