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Terrapins look to cash in on second chance

By SCOTT PURKS

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 20, 2001

TAMPA -- One of the great things about playing multiple sports is that you can get another chance. You can lose in a volleyball regional final and then come back in basketball and make another run at a state title.

This school year there is no better example than Tampa Prep's girls basketball squad, or rather, its volleyball team. The starting lineups in both sports were sometimes exactly the same.

At the forefront is leading hitter and scorer Amber Langston.

"This team knows what it's like to lose in a regional (volleyball) final (16-14, 3-15, 15-11 to Naples St. John Neumann)," Langston said. "We've talked about that a lot. We carry that with us and remember it, because we don't want that to happen again.

"I think (that volleyball loss) makes us more focused and determined."

Tonight at 7:30, after a four-hour drive to North Palm Beach, the Terrapins will need all the focus and determination they can find.

The opponent is Benjamin, a team with several players left over from its 1999 state championship year. These Pirates are 24-5 and beat up Keswick in last week's regional quarterfinal, 70-49.

"We know we're in for a challenge, but we're really looking forward to it," Tampa Prep coach Suzanne Marfise said. "Believe me, we know they're tough.

"And I really feel that if we can take this game, then we're going to be in real good shape. With the travel and with the opponent, I can't see any game being any harder than this one through the playoffs."

Is Tampa Prep, after racking up a 24-2 record against a relatively weak schedule, ready for this kind of challenge?

"Definitely," said Langston, who leads Prep at 20 points a game. "We've been in plenty of tough games in many tough places. We can handle this."

Maybe the best news for the Terrapins is they've played some tougher teams the past couple of weeks, games that Marfise said taught them a thing or two.

"Some of our weaknesses were exposed and then we came back and worked on them," she said. "We've improved and I'd have to say that right now we're playing our best basketball of the season. We're confident and excited and playing as a team."

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