"Our whole mindset going into this game was first we can't look over anybody," said head coach Tom Parks. "We dropped a prep school game our first game of the year and will never look over anyone. We didn't overlook them (Impact), but we definitely never look over any opponent. The second was we wanted to play really really hard, be really unselfish, work the ball and play on both sides of the floor."
Before the game took place, Saturday was dubbed as SCF Alumni Weekend beginning with the inaugural women's tennis scrimmage that featured alum Abby Martinez (2011-13), Mia Popaja (2011-13), Emily Acierno (2014), Miranda Talbert (2013-15) and of course, current head coach Chloe Murphy (2012-14). The alum played in mixed doubles competition against the current team that included sophomores Camile Portalier and Laura Illanes-Rodriguez and freshmen Sara Ramirez-Goncalves and Britain Botsford.
This was followed by the annual SCF Softball Alumni Game with the alumni playing against the current SCF softball team. The alumni that were in attendance included Jaclyn Cokeroft (2012-13), Emma Barlow (2012-13), Ashley Burney (2012-13), Kassidy Neptune (2015-16), Cacey Simmons (2015-16), Nikki Sedivy (2015-16), Alisa Jackson (2015), Kayleigh Walters (2016-18) and Brittany Gilliam (2015-16).
Side Note: Since I was an alum, I even got to be a part of the game on the field and at the plate. I made a couple of good fielding plays and even brought in a run on a fielder's choice.
Later, the SCF baseball hosted their annual alumni game with a few players I know, which included Brad Zunica (2015) and Ronny Orta (2015-16) going against the current team.
Now we turn to the basketball game. Impact opened the floodgates in the first half with a 3-pointer until the Manatees got their first points on the board from a layup by sophomore Cyrus Barnes. After a second Impact 3-point shot made it 6-2, the Manatees would answer with another Barnes layup, which was followed by steal and thunderous dunk by freshman D'Moi Hodge that tied the game at 6-6 before Barnes gave the Manatees an 8-6 lead.
Sophomore DeAndre Osuigwe would extend the lead to 11-6 after a 3-pointer, but another Impact 3-pointer cut the Manatees lead to one by a score of 11-10 before freshman Remy Robert II re-extended the lead to 14-10 before adding a fade-away jump shot, which was followed by an Osuigwe lay up before Impact cut the Manatees' lead to 18-13 before a timeout.
After the timeout and another thunderous dunk from sophomore Miles Wilson, defense was the main reason in the first half from several steals leading to buckets. It was smooth sailing for the Manatees in the first half as they were ahead 48-27.
In the second half, the game got really hot. Impact began with a 10-0 run that put the Manatees lead at 48-38.
"There were a couple times when we're having a little bit too much fun, but obviously we all started playing the game of basketball because it's fun," said Parks.
Little did Impact know was that there was a spark growing, but it did not come from the starting lineup though. In fact, the game got hot from the bench, mainly behind the 3-point line from an unexpected source in Miles. In the first half, Miles hit one 3-pointer, which was the only one he had, but when the second half hit, the native of Fredricksburg, Virginia went on an onslaught. After scoring two of his three free throws, Miles went off shooting his first 3-pointer in the second half five minutes in and continued to get three after three after three. To the end, it was smooth sailing for the Manatees. Miles lead the team off the bench as he finished with a career-high 29 points while going 9-for-16 from the 3-point line.
"I just got hot out there," said Miles. "The team kept feeding me the ball and they're the reason why I scored."
"I never want to take the fun away from our team," said Parks on Miles. "So it was really fun to watch Clearance hit a bunch of 3s. It was even more fun to watch the bench and the teammates react to his threes because that shows you how much we care about each other and how much we want the next man up to do well in the game."
Along with Miles, two other players from the bench lead the Manatees offensively, sophomore Corey Davis and freshman Max Richards. Davis finished behind Miles with 12 points (5-for-10 FG, 2-for-4 FT) and eight rebounds while Richards added 11 points (5-for-6, 1-for-2 3PT), one rebound and one assist.
"It was pretty intense," said Davis. "We all came out hungry, ready to battle and ready to compete. Coach (Parks) tells us all the time to treat every game like it's your last and every game we play, we play to get better. We don't step to play backwards, we step to play forwards."
From the starters, Hodge finished with six points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and three steals, while Osuigwe finished with seven points and seven assists. Barnes led all starters with eight points and three assists while Robert finished with five points, four rebounds and four assist and sophomore Joel Coffey finished with six points and an assist.
Freshmen Christnoff Scarborough (two rebounds and one assist) and Max Bell-Ramos (seven points, one rebound, one assist and one steal) and sophomores Miles Wilson (four points, one rebound and one steal) and Shelby Rhodes (five rebounds and two assists) also contributed in the game.
The Manatees were without redshirt sophomore Tre Alexandrea and freshman Isaiah Dasher in the starting lineup as they were getting rest due to minor injuries.
Up Next:
The Manatees will resume Suncoast play as they welcome Polk State (10-10, 3-1 Suncoast) Wednesday night, January 23 at 7 pm. The Eagles defeated SCF 96-72 in the opening of Suncoast play.
Later, the SCF baseball hosted their annual alumni game with a few players I know, which included Brad Zunica (2015) and Ronny Orta (2015-16) going against the current team.
Now we turn to the basketball game. Impact opened the floodgates in the first half with a 3-pointer until the Manatees got their first points on the board from a layup by sophomore Cyrus Barnes. After a second Impact 3-point shot made it 6-2, the Manatees would answer with another Barnes layup, which was followed by steal and thunderous dunk by freshman D'Moi Hodge that tied the game at 6-6 before Barnes gave the Manatees an 8-6 lead.
Sophomore DeAndre Osuigwe would extend the lead to 11-6 after a 3-pointer, but another Impact 3-pointer cut the Manatees lead to one by a score of 11-10 before freshman Remy Robert II re-extended the lead to 14-10 before adding a fade-away jump shot, which was followed by an Osuigwe lay up before Impact cut the Manatees' lead to 18-13 before a timeout.
After the timeout and another thunderous dunk from sophomore Miles Wilson, defense was the main reason in the first half from several steals leading to buckets. It was smooth sailing for the Manatees in the first half as they were ahead 48-27.
In the second half, the game got really hot. Impact began with a 10-0 run that put the Manatees lead at 48-38.
"There were a couple times when we're having a little bit too much fun, but obviously we all started playing the game of basketball because it's fun," said Parks.
Little did Impact know was that there was a spark growing, but it did not come from the starting lineup though. In fact, the game got hot from the bench, mainly behind the 3-point line from an unexpected source in Miles. In the first half, Miles hit one 3-pointer, which was the only one he had, but when the second half hit, the native of Fredricksburg, Virginia went on an onslaught. After scoring two of his three free throws, Miles went off shooting his first 3-pointer in the second half five minutes in and continued to get three after three after three. To the end, it was smooth sailing for the Manatees. Miles lead the team off the bench as he finished with a career-high 29 points while going 9-for-16 from the 3-point line.
"I just got hot out there," said Miles. "The team kept feeding me the ball and they're the reason why I scored."
"I never want to take the fun away from our team," said Parks on Miles. "So it was really fun to watch Clearance hit a bunch of 3s. It was even more fun to watch the bench and the teammates react to his threes because that shows you how much we care about each other and how much we want the next man up to do well in the game."
Along with Miles, two other players from the bench lead the Manatees offensively, sophomore Corey Davis and freshman Max Richards. Davis finished behind Miles with 12 points (5-for-10 FG, 2-for-4 FT) and eight rebounds while Richards added 11 points (5-for-6, 1-for-2 3PT), one rebound and one assist.
"It was pretty intense," said Davis. "We all came out hungry, ready to battle and ready to compete. Coach (Parks) tells us all the time to treat every game like it's your last and every game we play, we play to get better. We don't step to play backwards, we step to play forwards."
From the starters, Hodge finished with six points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and three steals, while Osuigwe finished with seven points and seven assists. Barnes led all starters with eight points and three assists while Robert finished with five points, four rebounds and four assist and sophomore Joel Coffey finished with six points and an assist.
Freshmen Christnoff Scarborough (two rebounds and one assist) and Max Bell-Ramos (seven points, one rebound, one assist and one steal) and sophomores Miles Wilson (four points, one rebound and one steal) and Shelby Rhodes (five rebounds and two assists) also contributed in the game.
The Manatees were without redshirt sophomore Tre Alexandrea and freshman Isaiah Dasher in the starting lineup as they were getting rest due to minor injuries.
Up Next:
The Manatees will resume Suncoast play as they welcome Polk State (10-10, 3-1 Suncoast) Wednesday night, January 23 at 7 pm. The Eagles defeated SCF 96-72 in the opening of Suncoast play.
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