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No lazy days of summer

This is prime time in the winter sports season, and Ridgewood is well aware of the talent tonight's opponent, Lake Howell, possesses.

By Izzy Gould
Published February 20, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - Summer camp at USF wasn't so long ago.

Toward the end of it Ridgewood stood nose to nose against one of the toughest teams for the championship, Winter Park Lake Howell. Ridgewood fell by four but learned it could scrap with some of the state's best.

Rams coach Gary Anders knows tonight's Class 5A region semifinal against the Silver Hawks is different for a couple of reasons.

"I'm smart enough to know their All-American wasn't there and that it was a summer-league game," Anders said. "There's a big difference."

Tonight, Ridgewood hosts arguably the best player in the state in senior Nick Calathes, a University of Florida signee who averaged 27.8 points per game during the regular season. Anders will throw man-to-man defense at Lake Howell and hopes stingy defense can disrupt its rhythm.

Ridgewood guard Alvin Satram, who stands 5 feet 7, is assigned to guard the 6-foot-5 star one-on-one. His teammate, Mike Lawrence, is responsible for Joey Rodriguez. And Derrick Zio will have to post up with Chandler Parsons. Jeremy Killinger and Lukas Poderis will have to guard a couple of guys overshadowed by the Division I trio.

"I'm not hiding anything," Anders said. "I have a lot of other things I can tell them but I don't want to clutter their minds. That would take away from their aggressiveness. Defensively, you have to get in their way."

Because the hallways were empty for President's Day on Monday, there's no telling what the atmosphere is likely to be during classes this morning.

As the game draws closer, the level of anticipation should increase as word circulates about tonight's tough test.

Ridgewood 25-3 has won 15 in a row. Lake Howell (23-3) has won 14 in a row. The Silver Hawks have been to four straight final fours. The Rams haven't been in the postseason since 2004.

When Anders gathers his boys in the locker room tonight he'll tell them to keep it simple and to have fun.

"What I try to draw the parallel to is you have a great opportunity," Anders said. "Yeah, we're playing a great team. We know that. It's a privilege to play them it's not a negative. We're trying to make it a positive situation."

The last time Ridgewood faced a challenge like this was in 2004 when undefeated Winter Haven came to town. Anders saw that as a great opportunity, too, then fell 56-40 in the same round.

"I told that team a few weeks before the game if I had my wish I wanted to play the No. 1 undefeated team in the state on our home floor," Anders said of Winter Haven. "I told this team the same thing a week ago."

Tonight, Ridgewood gets its shot.

Izzy Gould can be reached at igould@tampabay.com or (813) 909-4619.

[Last modified February 19, 2007, 23:06:52]