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Land O'Lakes may be forced to play without Brian and Jeff Baisley, giving Gulf a better chance of keeping its three-game winning streak alive.
By STEVE LEE
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 18, 2000
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Gulf coach Steve Feldman did not anticipate his team playing in tonight's final four of the Beef O'Brady's Pasco County Summer Basketball League.
Earlier this month, his team of high school-age players was at the bottom of the league standings with an 0-8 record. But two regular-season wins and a 77-54 upset of East Lake in Thursday's opening round of the playoffs places Gulf in the final four.
"It's very nice to say that (tonight) I'm not showing up just to hand out trophies," said Feldman, whose team is the league host with all games played at Gulf's Bever-Hicks Activities Center. "It's nice to have your team in there."
Top-seeded Land O'Lakes plays Gulf at 5 p.m., followed by the Ridgewood/Tampa Catholic matchup at 6 p.m. The winners play for the championship afterward.
"Land O'Lakes crushed us last time," Feldman said of Gulf's regular-season loss to Land O'Lakes by 34 points. "If we can just be competitive I'll be happy."
Gulf, which has won three straight games, might be even more competitive if Land O'Lakes is without the Baisley brothers. Jeff and Brian also play for their father's American Legion baseball team, Odessa Post 147, which hosts Post 111 tonight at 6.
"Right now we've got a baseball game, but I would say it's about 50-50 if we get it in," said Calvin Baisley, alluding to six rainouts during a recent 17-day stretch.
"They've got to play baseball," coach Baisley continued. "The thing is, if you pass up a game you don't know when you'll play the next one."
Land O'Lakes basketball coach Dave Puhalski definitely wants two of his best players on the court for the playoffs, but he concedes that coach Baisley has been flexible by rescheduling baseball games to accommodate the basketball schedule.
"(Coach) Bais has bent over backwards," said Puhalski, adding that if Jeff and Brian are unavailable, Andrew Weatherford and J.W. Bryant will start.
Land O'Lakes' opponent is on a roll. Leading Gulf to its third straight win Thursday was diminutive guard Joe Phillips, who poured in 28 points against East Lake.
"He's undersized, but he's got incredible court savvy," Feldman said of the 5-foot-3 sophomore.
Feldman was looking for someone to step it up against East Lake, which defeated Gulf twice during the regular season. Each team was missing a handful of players for that playoff game.
"Both teams were really depleted," Feldman said. "So it was just really a question of who had the longest bench or the most guys there."
In Thursday's other playoff games, Ridgewood defeated River Ridge 46-41 and Tampa Catholic beat Palm Harbor University 42-33.
Joe Anders' driving dunk and subsequent foul shot clinched the Ridgewood win, but coach Gary Anders was quick to point out the steady play of his other seniors as well.
"They've been playing real well, like they should be," coach Anders said of his son, Donnie Lotz, Eric Sierra, Mario Policastri and Adam Labus.