Northpinellas: Ex-Lakewood teammates together again

Now West and Scheuller have taken their game a few miles down the road to St.Petersburg Junior College. Together again after a year apart, they are helping the Trojans return to their winning ways.

"It's like being at Lakewood again," West said. "Only the crowds are smaller."

Okay, so SPJC isn't an NCAA Division I school with a full house every night. But it's perfect for these two locals, who wanted to continue playing after high school.

When he left Lakewood, Scheuller thought his basketball future was in Orlando.

He was invited to walk-on at Central Florida. But with an abundance of shooting forwards on the roster, Scheuller's playing time was minimal.

After a miserable year at UCF, he called his former AAU coach, Earnest Crumbley, who just happened to be the head coach at St. Petersburg Junior College.

"I had to recruit him again," Crumbley said. "You're always willing to make room for someone as talented as Kyle."

Scheuller has played in all 18 games for the 10-8 Trojans this season as a 6-foot-5 shooting forward. He averages over 15 points per game and is one of the team's steadiest players.

Scheuller hopes to hook on with another school after the season. He's going to continue working towarda degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management.

"Coming back here was a chance for me to get some playing time and get my game back after last season," Scheuller said.

"I really wanted to play Division I. But after a year, I knew that Central Florida wasn't the place for me," he said. "I knew Earnest, so I had a chance to play here."

West came to SPJC as a freshman and contributed mightily last season. As a 6-foot-2 guard, his style is more of a slashing player who gets a lot of inside baskets. Last year, West was named to the All-Suncoast team -- a feat he would like to duplicate this season.

"That was a good experience for me," West said. "But it really didn't mean anything because we lost the first game of the (conference) tournament.

"This year, I want to do well and I want the team to do well."

Scheuller and West have been playing with and against each other for nearly six years. The big question is, who's better?

"We've played a lot of one-on-one, and sometimes I win and sometimes he wins," West said. "It's 50-50.

"We're different players. (Scheuller) shoots from outside and I go inside. When we're playing together, we know what each other's thinking."

Crumbley's just happy to have them on the team.

"Lonnell's been a team leader since he's been here," the coach said. "Kyle's done everything we've asked and more. You couldn't ask for two better players."

The Trojans are 1-1 in conference play after a win Wednesday night against Manatee Community College. There are 10 league games remaining.

With players such as forward Daryl Saine and guard Donnell Johnson returning from injury, and Scheuller and West providing consistent play, SPJC hopes to capture its sixth conference championship since 1990.

"It's all coming together," Scheuller said. "We're getting our team back.

"This is a good team," he said. "We've just got to get everybody healthy and playing well at the same time."

TRITONS ARE FOR REAL: It appears that the fast start by the Eckerd men's basketball team is no fluke.

After going 11-2 against non-league opponents, the Tritons defeated Sunshine State powerhouse Tampa 66-63 on Jan. 6 in the conference opener for both squads.

Tampa was 11-1 and atop the NCAA Division II South Region poll. Eckerd was ranked seventh.

"I bet (other SSC teams) thought it was a misprint," Eckerd coach Tom Ryan said.

The Tritons then went on to defeat Florida Tech. Eckerd was scheduled to play Rollins College on Saturday night.

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