SCF vs USC Salkahatchie:
"The game honestly came down to mentality," said head coach Tom Parks. "Since the losses Daytona and Indian River, we've really bought in to just getting better every day and trusting the process. I told the guys in the locker room after the game and said 'I kind of looked up at the clock with eight minutes left in the second half and I don't remember who was winning and remember it was a close game'. Then I just thought in my head if we win this game, I'll be really excited, and if we lose this game, I'm going to be proud of this group on how they're playing and the fact that they're down 13 at half to one of the top teams in the country. The fact that they really battled and fought while buying into the game plan, it was really cool to see."
"We've been working on this game plan for a while with this one we have circled since they decide to come to this tournament, and it wasn't really much different than any other typical game in which we were more focused on ourselves than we were on them," said Parks on before the game. "They threw a lot of different defenses at you and we did have to do some preparation with playing against different defenses and we had a really good practice yesterday and a good shootaround earlier before the game, which I thought was a good reason to prepare. I told the guys that we were prepared for this and nothing changes, we just got to show up for the test."
The game started off with a layup by sophomore Isiah Dasher and a 3-pointer by classmate D'Moi Hodge, but as soon as Hodge missed his second 3-point attempt, the Indians started to get hot with several 3-pointers and offensive rebounds that put them up in double digit points first. Eventually, freshman Jordan Clark hit a layup to put the Manatees in double digits despite being down by five until Hodge hit another three, but it looked like every time the Manatees tried to cut the deficit, the Indians would continue to get hot offensively and defensively and that took a toll on the Manatees when they were down in double digits and their shooting started to become inconsistent after several misses and multiple successful threes by the Indians.
By the end of the first half, the score was 47-34 in favor of Salkahatchie. Despite being down, the Manatees still had a heartbeat in them.
"At halftime, it was just a matter of taking care of the ball and finding shooters when they were 11-for-17 from the 3-point line, which were both big ones. It's something where we wanted to pressure the ball a lot more because they were able to catch and look at the rim and survey everything. They're all really good shooters because if you go down the list, they have six or seven guys that shoot over 40% from the 3-point line, which is not something where they got lucky. They're a very high-powered offensive team even from an individual standpoint. Each guy can shoot and score, so we talked about applying pressure and taking care of the ball. The biggest thing was going to the basket strong and not be scared of their length or athleticism, but the guys came out and responded by attacking the basket hard and taking care of the ball."
"Coach Parks went over what we want to do in the whole game at the start before the game," said freshman Marshall Kearing on before and during halftime. "He was going over how they're going to play, what they might do in defense and offense and how we got to play to match that. When we were down going into halftime, he wanted us to go over some stuff and switch things over, which gave us a bit more energy to hype us up."
At the start of the second half, the Manatees were off to a sluggish start but then things started to go from mellow to almost "vengeful" in a way three minutes into the second half when Hodge went for a dunk and was blocked before hitting the ground hard. While that happened, Salkahatchie was issued a technical foul after sophomore Ahmad Rand showboated on the floor in celebration in front of the SCF bench while Hodge was still down on the ground. This became the biggest turning point of anger in the game, especially from first-year assistant coach Nav Gill.
"D'Moi drove it for the layup and got blocked and then they (Salkahatchie) went down the other end and scored," said Parks on the turning point. "On the next possession, I told D'Moi to dunk on him (Rand) and he tried to. He gets fouled with no call and falls to the ground and when they (Salkahatchie) scored, they celebrated by taunting like they were excited when D'Moi fell to the ground and I ran over to the basket to make sure he was ok. When D'Moi is down and on the ground, he's hurt and he's one of the toughest kids I've been around in my life. He got up, went to the training room and had no idea whether he was going to continue to play or if he was done for the season. He didn't know and truthfully I was optimistic because I didn't know what was going to happen, but our team came together and their whole demeanor changed. D'Moi has put our team on his back and made plays countless times and at that point, the team didn't have to say it, all their face from all five on the floor, on the bench and from every coach said that they were going to win that game for D'Moi Hodge and they did."
And right as rain it did starting with a Kearing put back for a successful and-one and a layup by sophomore Max Bell-Ramos before two Salkahatchie free throws.
When Hodge reentered the game five minutes in, the Manatees started to get hot when Hodge shot a three from the wing and a Dasher layup cut the deficit to seven. This would be followed by a steal and and-one by Clark that cut the Indians' lead to 57-52 before they called a timeout.
After the timeout and Clark free throw, the Indians tried to extend the lead but another 3-pointer by Hodge brought more life to the Manatees. Defense and rebounding by Kearing, Dasher, Hodge and Clark continued to push the Manatees harder as they kept fighting. A big 3-pointer by redshirt freshman Calvin McCutcheon, a Hodge block and Clark layup cut the Salkahatchie lead to four before Hodge cut the deficit to one with a clutch 3-pointer and eventually a Dasher putback and a McCutcheon 3-pointer gave the Manatees their first lead since the start of the first half as they went ahead by a score of 75-73. Another 3-pointer by Hodge extended the Manatees lead by five, but slowly the Indians try to sneak their way to retake the lead until successful passes by Dasher, McCutcheon and Clark to Kearing and baskets by Hodge and Clark made it more difficult for them.
With less than a minute, the Indians had to revert to fouls as they continued to send McCutcheon to the line where he shot one of two free throws before Hodge sent a put back shot and with two last free throws by Dasher, the Manatees pulled away with the upset win.
Four Manatees ended up with double-digit scoring. It was once again Hodge who took the reins offensively. The two-time NJCAA Region 8 Player of the Week finished with 39 points (13-for-23 FG, 7-for-13 3PT, 6-for-6 FT), eight rebounds, four assists, four blocks and three steals.
"D'Moi is just 'D'Moi'," said Parks on Hodge. "It's funny because it's been two straight weeks where I nominated him for NJCAA Region 8 Player of the Week and he got it last week and this week, but in both times, he has never gotten National Player of the Week, and both times I thought he was more deserving of it than some of the others and obviously I'm bias because that's my guy."
"In a way, he keeps asking himself what does he have to do to get National Player of the Week and putting 39 points on the number 16 in the country helps.
Dasher followed Hodge with 16 points (6-for-14 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 3-for-5 FT), four rebounds, five assists and one steal, while Kearing, who was one rebound shy of his third collegiate double-double, had 13 points (6-for-9 FG, 1-for-1 FT), nine rebounds, two assists, a steal and five blocks before fouling out. Clark, who was two rebounds shy of a double-double, rounded out the lineup with 12 points (5-for-10 FG, 2-for-4 FT), eight rebounds, four assists and a steal.
"I wasn't as aggressive in the first half in and around the rim," said Kearing on his performance. "Defensively I was sort of there. In the second half, I started to pick it up and got all my blocks and baskets from there."
"Marshall was really really good in the second half and I don't think people realize how hard some of the finishes he had were, especially the last one he had caught with his back to the basket turned in the air with such soft," said Parks on Kearing. "I don't think there's a bag full of bigs that can do commit to a play like that."
"Isiah played well and I thought Jordan (Clark) made some good plays mainly in the second half," said Parks on Dasher and Clark.
McCutcheon had one of his best home games as he finished with nine points (2-for-4 FG, 2-for-3 3PT, 3-for-6 FT), one rebound, five assists and three steals.
"I had a pretty good game coming in and just played my role," said McCutcheon on his game. "The shots were falling, I didn't force anything and just continued to do what I needed to do to get us the win."
"Calvin stepped up in so many ways," said Parks on McCutcheon. "He took care of the ball while continuing to distribute it, running the whole team, playing defense, he did everything. It's funny I get on Calvin a lot because he's a point guard, but he wants it and thrives in situations where he can continue to learn. He didn't play for a whole year during his redshirt year. The Calvin your seeing right now, you're going to see a lot more of him, which is really exciting."
Bell-Ramos (two points and a rebound), sophomores Remy Robert II (five points, one assist and one steal) and Christnoff Scarborough (three rebounds, a steal and two blocks), redshirt freshman Jaylen Jones (one assist) and freshman Sam Grayson (two points and two rebounds) all contributed in the game.
For the Indians, sophomore Vince Cole led the team offensively as he finished with 37 points (9-for-18 FG, 7-for-8 3PT, 12-for-12 FT) and six rebounds while classmate Mardrez McBride followed with 21 points (7-for-12 FG, 3-for-5 3PT, 4-for-6 FT) and two assist. Cole and McBride were the only two players to score in double digits. Rand and freshman Michael Marsh were the closest to reaching double digits as they each had eight points. Rand added eight rebounds and seven blocks, while McBride added seven rebounds.
"They (Salkahatchie) are a really good and tough team," said Kearing on Salkahatchie. "We came out trying to get the same toughness back and it was neck and neck. In the second half, we started playng a little harder and picked it up when D'Moi (Hodge) went down. We wanted to pick that up after that and started going on a roll and kept in our lead for the rest of the game."
"It was a big team coming up and we already knew we were going to have a tough matchup with them being number 16 in the nation," said McCutcheon on Salkahatchie. "We already knew they were a long, athletic, scrappy team and we just had to stick to our game plan and lock in from the whole past week. Going into the game, we just competed and that's all we had to do mainly play defensive."
Personal Note: It's the day after Thanksgiving and of course fans and students are not all going to be at the game. But even the smallest crowds can make a whole lot of noise that can be followed by one to start it.
"It was good to have people come down to see us play," said Kearing on the crowd. "Despite it being the day after Thanksgiving, it was still good to have people come support us. Even if the crowd was small, that gave us a lot of energy."
"Any crowd is helpful when they cheer for us no matter how big or small it is," said McCutcheon on the support.
"Energy is contagious and the best kind of energy is positive energy," said Parks on the crowd's energy. "I think that we have the best gym in the country because there is a lot of character in that gym and I love when I get alum that says that this is the same gym I played in no matter what age they were and that was really cool just to know that there's been a lot of different groups that go through a lot of pain, sweat, tears and happiness in our gym."
Parks did give a shoutout to Michelle, the mother of upcoming redshirt freshman Rae Miller, for bringing energy and life to the team.
And of course, I want to give shoutouts to SCF volleyball freshman players Leilani Wilcox-Nanai, Bailey Sikkema and Lisa Jaunet for attending the game and rooting the team on.
SCF vs Impact:
Parks decided to give Hodge a much needed rest after the win over USC Salkahatchie. Bell-Ramos would be placed in the starting lineup, thus earning his first collegiate start.
For the game against Impact, it was Jones that led the Manatees over Impact as he finished with a season-high 17 points (6-for-14 FG, 2-for-8 3PT, 3-for-3 FT), two rebounds, two steals and a block, while Bell-Ramos and Kearing had 14 points each. Bell-Ramos (6-for-8 FG, 2-for-3 3PT) added three rebounds, one assist and one block, while Kearing (7-for-7 FG) added three rebounds, a block and a steal.
Dasher, Clark and freshman Michael Gavin finished with double digit scoring as well. Dasher, who was two assists shy of a double-double, had 11 points (5-for-6 FG, 1-for-2 3PT), eight assists and two rebounds, Clark had 10 points (3-for-5 FG, 2-for-3 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), one rebound and one steal and Gavin had 13 points (6-for-14 FG, 4-for-9 3PT), three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
McCutcheon finished with nine points (4-for-6 FG, 1-for-3 3 PT), two rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Scarborough finished with eight points (3-for-3 FG, 2-for-3 FT), five rebounds, two assists and Grayson follow with six points of his own to go along with three rebounds.
Robert II (six points, three rebounds, five assists and a steal) and freshman J-Quon Ferrol (two points, five rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal) also contributed against Impact.
Other Suncoast Scores:
Following SCF's win over Impact Academy, RV Polk State (7-2) also upset #16 Salkahatchie at the SCF Classic as they won by a score of 87-67. The Eagles will return to action as they travel to Gainsville to take on Santa Fe Wednesday night, December 4 at 7 pm.
#6 FSW (9-1) will face ASA Miami Sunday afternoon, December 1 at 1 pm. The Buccaneers faced ASA Miami in a previous game winning by a score of 69-61.
Hillsborough (4-5) will return to action as they face Indian River State Tuesday night, December 3 at 7 pm.
St. Pete College (4-6) will return to action on the road as they travel to Georgia to take on Southern Crescent Technical College (NJCAA Region 17) Friday night, December 6 at 7 pm.
Up Next:
The Manatees will return on the road as they travel to Ocala to face Central Florida (9-2) Tuesday night, December 3 at 7:30 pm.
After the timeout and Clark free throw, the Indians tried to extend the lead but another 3-pointer by Hodge brought more life to the Manatees. Defense and rebounding by Kearing, Dasher, Hodge and Clark continued to push the Manatees harder as they kept fighting. A big 3-pointer by redshirt freshman Calvin McCutcheon, a Hodge block and Clark layup cut the Salkahatchie lead to four before Hodge cut the deficit to one with a clutch 3-pointer and eventually a Dasher putback and a McCutcheon 3-pointer gave the Manatees their first lead since the start of the first half as they went ahead by a score of 75-73. Another 3-pointer by Hodge extended the Manatees lead by five, but slowly the Indians try to sneak their way to retake the lead until successful passes by Dasher, McCutcheon and Clark to Kearing and baskets by Hodge and Clark made it more difficult for them.
With less than a minute, the Indians had to revert to fouls as they continued to send McCutcheon to the line where he shot one of two free throws before Hodge sent a put back shot and with two last free throws by Dasher, the Manatees pulled away with the upset win.
Four Manatees ended up with double-digit scoring. It was once again Hodge who took the reins offensively. The two-time NJCAA Region 8 Player of the Week finished with 39 points (13-for-23 FG, 7-for-13 3PT, 6-for-6 FT), eight rebounds, four assists, four blocks and three steals.
"D'Moi is just 'D'Moi'," said Parks on Hodge. "It's funny because it's been two straight weeks where I nominated him for NJCAA Region 8 Player of the Week and he got it last week and this week, but in both times, he has never gotten National Player of the Week, and both times I thought he was more deserving of it than some of the others and obviously I'm bias because that's my guy."
"In a way, he keeps asking himself what does he have to do to get National Player of the Week and putting 39 points on the number 16 in the country helps.
Dasher followed Hodge with 16 points (6-for-14 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 3-for-5 FT), four rebounds, five assists and one steal, while Kearing, who was one rebound shy of his third collegiate double-double, had 13 points (6-for-9 FG, 1-for-1 FT), nine rebounds, two assists, a steal and five blocks before fouling out. Clark, who was two rebounds shy of a double-double, rounded out the lineup with 12 points (5-for-10 FG, 2-for-4 FT), eight rebounds, four assists and a steal.
"I wasn't as aggressive in the first half in and around the rim," said Kearing on his performance. "Defensively I was sort of there. In the second half, I started to pick it up and got all my blocks and baskets from there."
"Marshall was really really good in the second half and I don't think people realize how hard some of the finishes he had were, especially the last one he had caught with his back to the basket turned in the air with such soft," said Parks on Kearing. "I don't think there's a bag full of bigs that can do commit to a play like that."
"Isiah played well and I thought Jordan (Clark) made some good plays mainly in the second half," said Parks on Dasher and Clark.
McCutcheon had one of his best home games as he finished with nine points (2-for-4 FG, 2-for-3 3PT, 3-for-6 FT), one rebound, five assists and three steals.
"I had a pretty good game coming in and just played my role," said McCutcheon on his game. "The shots were falling, I didn't force anything and just continued to do what I needed to do to get us the win."
"Calvin stepped up in so many ways," said Parks on McCutcheon. "He took care of the ball while continuing to distribute it, running the whole team, playing defense, he did everything. It's funny I get on Calvin a lot because he's a point guard, but he wants it and thrives in situations where he can continue to learn. He didn't play for a whole year during his redshirt year. The Calvin your seeing right now, you're going to see a lot more of him, which is really exciting."
Bell-Ramos (two points and a rebound), sophomores Remy Robert II (five points, one assist and one steal) and Christnoff Scarborough (three rebounds, a steal and two blocks), redshirt freshman Jaylen Jones (one assist) and freshman Sam Grayson (two points and two rebounds) all contributed in the game.
For the Indians, sophomore Vince Cole led the team offensively as he finished with 37 points (9-for-18 FG, 7-for-8 3PT, 12-for-12 FT) and six rebounds while classmate Mardrez McBride followed with 21 points (7-for-12 FG, 3-for-5 3PT, 4-for-6 FT) and two assist. Cole and McBride were the only two players to score in double digits. Rand and freshman Michael Marsh were the closest to reaching double digits as they each had eight points. Rand added eight rebounds and seven blocks, while McBride added seven rebounds.
"They (Salkahatchie) are a really good and tough team," said Kearing on Salkahatchie. "We came out trying to get the same toughness back and it was neck and neck. In the second half, we started playng a little harder and picked it up when D'Moi (Hodge) went down. We wanted to pick that up after that and started going on a roll and kept in our lead for the rest of the game."
"It was a big team coming up and we already knew we were going to have a tough matchup with them being number 16 in the nation," said McCutcheon on Salkahatchie. "We already knew they were a long, athletic, scrappy team and we just had to stick to our game plan and lock in from the whole past week. Going into the game, we just competed and that's all we had to do mainly play defensive."
Personal Note: It's the day after Thanksgiving and of course fans and students are not all going to be at the game. But even the smallest crowds can make a whole lot of noise that can be followed by one to start it.
"It was good to have people come down to see us play," said Kearing on the crowd. "Despite it being the day after Thanksgiving, it was still good to have people come support us. Even if the crowd was small, that gave us a lot of energy."
"Any crowd is helpful when they cheer for us no matter how big or small it is," said McCutcheon on the support.
"Energy is contagious and the best kind of energy is positive energy," said Parks on the crowd's energy. "I think that we have the best gym in the country because there is a lot of character in that gym and I love when I get alum that says that this is the same gym I played in no matter what age they were and that was really cool just to know that there's been a lot of different groups that go through a lot of pain, sweat, tears and happiness in our gym."
Parks did give a shoutout to Michelle, the mother of upcoming redshirt freshman Rae Miller, for bringing energy and life to the team.
And of course, I want to give shoutouts to SCF volleyball freshman players Leilani Wilcox-Nanai, Bailey Sikkema and Lisa Jaunet for attending the game and rooting the team on.
SCF vs Impact:
Parks decided to give Hodge a much needed rest after the win over USC Salkahatchie. Bell-Ramos would be placed in the starting lineup, thus earning his first collegiate start.
For the game against Impact, it was Jones that led the Manatees over Impact as he finished with a season-high 17 points (6-for-14 FG, 2-for-8 3PT, 3-for-3 FT), two rebounds, two steals and a block, while Bell-Ramos and Kearing had 14 points each. Bell-Ramos (6-for-8 FG, 2-for-3 3PT) added three rebounds, one assist and one block, while Kearing (7-for-7 FG) added three rebounds, a block and a steal.
Dasher, Clark and freshman Michael Gavin finished with double digit scoring as well. Dasher, who was two assists shy of a double-double, had 11 points (5-for-6 FG, 1-for-2 3PT), eight assists and two rebounds, Clark had 10 points (3-for-5 FG, 2-for-3 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), one rebound and one steal and Gavin had 13 points (6-for-14 FG, 4-for-9 3PT), three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
McCutcheon finished with nine points (4-for-6 FG, 1-for-3 3 PT), two rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Scarborough finished with eight points (3-for-3 FG, 2-for-3 FT), five rebounds, two assists and Grayson follow with six points of his own to go along with three rebounds.
Robert II (six points, three rebounds, five assists and a steal) and freshman J-Quon Ferrol (two points, five rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal) also contributed against Impact.
Other Suncoast Scores:
Following SCF's win over Impact Academy, RV Polk State (7-2) also upset #16 Salkahatchie at the SCF Classic as they won by a score of 87-67. The Eagles will return to action as they travel to Gainsville to take on Santa Fe Wednesday night, December 4 at 7 pm.
#6 FSW (9-1) will face ASA Miami Sunday afternoon, December 1 at 1 pm. The Buccaneers faced ASA Miami in a previous game winning by a score of 69-61.
Hillsborough (4-5) will return to action as they face Indian River State Tuesday night, December 3 at 7 pm.
St. Pete College (4-6) will return to action on the road as they travel to Georgia to take on Southern Crescent Technical College (NJCAA Region 17) Friday night, December 6 at 7 pm.
Up Next:
The Manatees will return on the road as they travel to Ocala to face Central Florida (9-2) Tuesday night, December 3 at 7:30 pm.
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