Wesley Chapel trounced by Wharton

Leading by 24 points after three quarters against visiting Wesley Chapel, Wharton exhibited why it's ranked fifth in Class 5A and putting together the best season in school history.

By JOEL POILEY
Published February 16, 2007

Leading by 24 points after three quarters against visiting Wesley Chapel, Wharton exhibited why it's ranked fifth in Class 5A and putting together the best season in school history.

Rather than throttle back, the Wildcats (28-1) continued to play as though the game was tied - passing, looking for the open man and crashing both backboards for rebounds.

It amounted to a 74-44 and a home game for Tuesday's region semifinal against the Winter Haven-New Smyrna Beach victor. But it also spoke volumes about Tommy Tonelli's tenacious crew.

"This is the way we've played all year," Tonelli said. "This team never plays like it's satisfied or rests on its laurels. They've never taken any opponent lightly, and they never look ahead."

Wesley Chapel coach Doug Greseth was impressed after his team fell behind by eight after the first quarter and never recovered.

"There's a reason they're 28-1," Greseth said. "They're very unselfish, they know each other very well and they play together as a very good, very experienced team.

"We're young, but that's what we want to be like. We're hoping to be in that position next year."

Wesley Chapel (15-12) was led by Greg Jenkins' 13 points and Jamal Hall's nine.

Further evidence of Wharton's unselfishness was shown in its scoring, with Shawn Vanzant (15 points), Adam Noble (13), Anthony Gomez (12) and Josh Jones (10) all in double figures.

Joel Poiley, Times correspondent

[Last modified February 15, 2007, 23:02:12]