Saturday, January 24, 2004
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
SEBRING -- The biggest mystery on the Sebring High boys basketball schedule was how well Mahoning County's best small program would fare against the speed of an inner-city squad.
It took the undefeated, state-ranked Trojans only minutes to show their superiority over Division II Rayen. Sebring (10-0) made its first four shots for a 9-0 lead in Tuesday's 53-40 victory.
"We really didn't expect it," said Sebring senior guard David Scarpitti, who finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.
A minute into the game, Joe James sank a 3-pointer. Scarpitti stole the ball and made a layup, then followed with a successful jump shot. Matt Ferguson's bucket from underneath had Rayen in deep trouble.
Second-ranked
In this week's Associated Press poll of Division IV teams, the Trojans are second.
Scarpitti called the good start a relief "because we were coming off a game from [Monday]. It showed we were fresh and able to get out and run, and it made the game a lot of fun."
Scarpitti was referring to Monday's 51-47 overtime win over Berlin Hiland, the fourth-ranked Div. IV squad.
Sebring junior forward Joe Amabeli said the Trojans' defense "started out with some pressure, which got their guards a little rattled. It was a good boost for us."
Ahead 14-4 after the first quarter, the Trojans started with strong runs in each of the remaining frames (6-2 in the second and 5-0 in the third and fourth) to cruise.
"We knew they would have a lot of quickness, so we knew our defense and our rebounding would have to win it for us," Scarpitti said. "I think we did a good job of that -- we shut down a lot of their drives, especially on the baseline."
Scarpitti said the Trojans' excellent defensive play triggers the offense.
"That's the biggest thing," Scarpitti said. "The rebounding eventually came around. We know if we can get it done on the defensive end, the offense is going to come.
"Tonight was a good example -- our defense led to most of our offense. That's what we pride ourselves most on -- playing defense first."
The gap
The eight-point deficit Rayen (2-9) faced at the beginning of the second half was as close as it would get. The Tigers made 19 of 57 shots.
"They battled back," said Amabeli after the Trojans jumped ahead 41-22. "They are very quick and we knew that we had to stop their drives. We did an excellent job of penetrating to the basket and we got a lot of rebounds because of our penetration."
Amabeli scored all 12 of Sebring's fourth-quarter points to finish with 14. Matt Ferguson scored nine, while James and Dan Scarpitti had eight apiece.
Keenan Ready came off Rayen's bench to lead the Tigers with 10 points. Brandon Crosby netted eight.
His team unbeaten halfway through the schedule, David Scarpitti knows the Trojans are well on their way to a magical season.
"We're enjoying it -- we love close games," Scarpitti said. "So far, we've been able to win them. [It seems that] if we can keep it close, we'll execute at the end and we'll be able to pull it out."
williams@vindy.com