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No. 1! And nervous

The Riverview girls basketball team climbed to the top after sweet Sarasota victories. But the real test will come at the districts.

By BRYAN BURNS
Published January 20, 2006

RIVERVIEW - Last season, it was around this time when the wheels fell off for the Riverview girls basketball team.

They had opened the season strong with 12 straight victories. Then they lost six games in their final 10, including five losses to Sarasota and Sarasota-Riverview. The losses doomed Riverview, which didn't make it past the district tournament.

This season, Riverview is 16 games into the season and has won all of them. But unlike last year, when the Sarasota schools made life miserable for Riverview, this year the Sharks have beaten both schools in their only meetings.

The win over Sarasota-Riverview was especially historic because it was the first time the Sharks had beaten their district rival.

After the win, Riverview was ranked No. 1 in Class 6A, the first time Riverview had been ranked. Ever.

"We had a pretty good year last year, and we couldn't play with them," head coach Lelani Gordon said of her team's struggles with the Rams. "We weren't even close, and I think (our players) knew we weren't really there yet.

"But when we beat them this year, I think they started to believe," she said.

The 48-40 thriller on Dec. 16 gave the Sharks a 4-0 record in district play and the inside track for the No. 1 seed in the district tournament, which Riverview hosts from Jan. 31 to Feb. 4.

Subsequent victories over district foes Plant City and Lakeland secured the top seed and a 6-0 district record.

"The Sarasota-Riverview game was the game that showed me we had a team that could go far," said senior and Riverview salutatorian Nicole Fencel. "There was a lot of pressure on that game because they were a district rival and we had never beaten them."

The rankings and the victories mean little, however, unless the Sharks can defeat both of the Sarasota schools again at districts.

Riverview will almost definitely play one, if not both, at districts, a tournament the girls have advanced beyond only once.

"We've come a long way since I opened the school," said Gordon, who coached for 14 years at Hillsborough before starting the girls program at Riverview when the school opened in 1998. "We try to keep it in perspective because we've never been ranked No. 1 and we've certainly never been undefeated at this point of the season."

The ranking also ratchets up the pressure, said starting point guard Belle Benitez.

"It feels good to be ranked No. 1, but we wish it meant something," Benitez said. "You've got to live up to that ranking."

Riverview will get a chance to live up to its ranking tonight and Saturday in the Roundball Showcase at Sarasota. The Sharks, led by Ashley Milian, who averages 16.4 points and 10.8 rebounds a game, will go up against Largo (5A), ranked No. 5, and then face a tough Seminole squad.

"We'll be feeling pretty good if we can play with them," Gordon said. "We'll either get a wakeup call or grow in confidence."

After that are home games against Durant and Newsome and a road date with Hillsborough to finish the regular season. Then comes the district tournament.

"We hope we can get out of the district this year," Gordon said. Ultimately, we want to play a regional game. We've only played in one since the school opened."

A big factor in getting past districts will be the play of Benitez and forward Yomi Akintola.

Akintola, who did not play last year because of a heart problem, is a strong presence for the Sharks. She averages 8.9 points and 7.9 rebounds a game. Benitez, third in the county in assists with 6.8 per game, could be the best point guard in the county, Gordon said.

"She's what makes us go," Gordon said. "She is a tremendous passer, and unselfish to a fault."

Throw in Milian, a bona fide scorer who Gordon claims is one of the best players she has been around, and seniors Fencel and Renae Hewes into the starting lineup, and Riverview has as good a starting five as any team it will face.

For Gordon, no matter what happens in the coming weeks, the season has been extremely successful.

"They're a great bunch to coach. They're having fun; I'm having fun," she said. "I had some really good teams at Hillsborough, but I'd say this is as good as any team I've had."

[Last modified January 19, 2006, 08:52:06]