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By MIKE READLING
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 19, 2001
TAMPA -- Rarely do high school basketball games turn out to be as good as the pregame hype. Thursday night's Sickles-Gaither game seemed well on its way to being yet another disappointing "rivalry game." After all, how could it not be?
It was billed as a district battle between two North Tampa schools located less than 10 miles apart in which Sickles, the No. 6-ranked team in Class 6A, would try to protect its undefeated record.
A good combination for a big letdown which turned out to be anything but.
After falling behind by 18 in the second quarter, Gaither (14-5) overcame the deficit and took its first lead with less than two minutes remaining en route to a 74-68 victory.
"We started off, once again, behind the eight ball and I remember thinking, "Here we go,"' Gaither coach Bill Agatheas said. "At that point I was just hoping to put in a good game and get in a good look. They came out smokin' to start the game."
If Sickles, which turned 10 Gaither turnovers into 11 of its 23 points in the first quarter, was smoking to start the game, then the Gryphons (16-1) were fizzling at the end. Sickles only managed 26 points the entire second half as it seemed like nothing -- Ariel Northrup three-pointers, Tosha Ross layups, Renea Phelps jumpers -- would fall.
"It hurts when you push it inside and then kick it back outside for the shot and nothing goes in," Sickles coach Jackie Metroka said. "We live and die by that. If it doesn't go in, it just doesn't go in."
One person who had no trouble getting anything to fall was Gaither's Chrissy Tucker.
Tucker finished with a career-high 30 points, including five three-pointers. Tucker hit three of the long-range bombs in the third quarter and then nailed a big one with 2:48 remaining to tie the game for the first time. She then hit an off-balance 12-footer one minute later to give Gaither the lead.
"The goal was big tonight, I was in a zone I think," said Tucker, who scored 11 of Gaither's final 14 points. "But this was a total team effort. We came in here expecting to win. We don't consider this an upset because we expected to win it. We've been waiting for this since last year."
Elaine Evans followed Tucker with 18 points, fighting underneath the basket for putbacks and driving layups on the baseline.