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Rams wake up, defeat Pirates

Ridgewood wins 52-42 over Pasco despite going seven minutes without a basket in the second half.

By WAYNE GRUMET

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 3, 2000

DADE CITY -- Ridgewood coach Gary Anders knew his team was having trouble scoring in the second half, but he had no idea how much they were struggling.

Ridgewood went seven minutes without a basket Saturday, allowing Pasco to turn a nine-point third-quarter deficit into a two-point lead with 6:11 to play in the game.

Anders finally saw signs of life from his team as 6-foot-10 center Donny Lotz hustled to score on the offensive glass to end the drought. The next time down the floor, Joe Anders sailed in for a thunderous dunk to regain the lead.

Ridgewood didn't look back, pulling away for a 52-42 win.

"I thought we stood around a lot tonight offensively and defensively. If we went scoreless that long, we were standing around, I guarantee you," Gary Anders said. "I just don't think we wore our blue-collar shirts tonight."

Anders was pleased to see his players standing around in one place, the free-throw line. Ridgewood (3-0) shot 9-of-10 from the line in the fourth quarter.

Pasco (0-2) relied on the long ball to stay within striking distance, hitting five three-pointers. The Pirates then turned on the defensive pressure in the third quarter, holding Ridgewood to 2-of-7 shooting.

"When you're down, the defensive possession is a lot more important than the offensive possession," Pasco coach Poncho Broner III said.

"But then when we did get back in it, we had a drought there. I guess their defense stepped up when it needed to."

Ridgewood held Pasco to five points in the final six minutes, using a 10-1 burst to open up a 45-38 lead.

Meanwhile, Lotz consistently found his way to the basket or the free-throw line. He finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. He also shot 11-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Anders chipped in 12 points while Graham Herbert was Pasco's lone double-figure scorer with 10 points. Pasco's Kallyn McLaughlin also was strong with nine points and two steals.

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