“It’s always tough when you play, especially when you have a bye week as well,” said Parks. “You get in a rhythm playing games every Wednesday and Saturday and we got so many bye weeks with ASA Miami and Broward dropping out for the season that our by weeks are crazy, and I think it’s tough to remember what it’s like to play a game after you have had five days of practice, but we knew Palm Beach was going to be really scrappy and aggressive. When we were watching their film, they’re for sure talented, but we knew we were going to need to execute better, which we didn’t really do tonight, but tonight we were more scrappy and had guys step up and make plays offensively.”
We performed well with a lot of adversity,” said freshman James “Pop” Weathers. “We’ve been preaching about it at practice to play hard and we played hard tonight. It started with a couple of practices after playing Indian River that we lost. This game was different because we were able to bounce back so we can get ready to face FSW Saturday.”
“Everybody played their part and did well overall,” said freshman DK Kelly. “In the end, we know how to face adversity because (Coach) Parks tells us that at practice every time.”
In the first half, the Manatees took an 8-3 lead with six points coming from freshman DK Kelly, but with classmate James “Pop” Weathers being in early foul trouble until the Panthers reached double figures first. The game continued to be scrappy as the Manatees were able to take the the first half at 38-37 from a last second shot by freshman Javon Bell.
In the second half, the Manatees continued to hold onto the lead, despite the constant scrappiness from the Panthers. In the end, Weathers sunk the final two free throws to seals the deal for a Manatee win.
In the end, four Manatees finished in double figure scoring with Weathers and Kelly being the main leaders for the game. Weathers finished with 25 points (7-for-9 FG, 13-for-13 FT), three rebounds, two assists and one steal, while Kelly finished with his first collegiate double-double of 23 points (8-for-17 FG, 3-for-6 3PT, 4-for-5 FT) and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists and four steals.
“DK had the best practice yesterday of the entire year,” said Parks on Kelly. “Tonight he was at a little bit of a different pace, like he was on a mission. I told him today ‘I hope you go off today because it’s going to show you that you practice that way, then you’re going to play that way.’ He’s a really unique player because he’s one of those guys that when you watch him, it looks like he’s moving really slow, but then he almost slows the defense to sleep and makes a quick move. The difference between today and the other games he played was he didn’t settle for his first few shots. If you’re not around DK for a while, outside looking in, you might say something about his shots that it can be similar to D’Moi Hodge, even though he’s a completely different player from a shooting perspective.”
“Pop was in foul trouble in the first half and that really effected him, similar to the last game against Indian River when he got his second foul with 10 minutes left in the first half,” said Parks on the team with Weathers. “It’s good experience for guys to learn how to win without him on the floor and for us in the first half to be able to maintain a small lead when were behind by six and then be up by one in the first half, but us to be able to maintain that lead and keep it without Pop on the floor say a lot about guys stepping up.”
“Pop is incredible getting to the free throw line,” said Parks on Weathers. “He is so good at drawing contact and is so quick that he catches guys off-guard and out of position and that really forces them to foul or give up a layup. I was happy he was able to turn it on in the second half and look forward to the next time Pop play two full halves instead of being stuck in foul trouble.”
Bell nearly had a double-double as he finished with 13 points (4-for-9 FG, 1-for-3 3PT, 4-for-4 FT), eight rebounds, one assist and one block, while freshman Kwo Agwa rounded out the order with 12 points (5-for-11 FG, 2-for-4 FT), five rebounds, one assist and one block.
Sophomore Marshall Kearing finished with eight points, six rebounds, one assist and one block, while classmate Jordan Clark (two points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal) and freshmen Michael Hatcher (one rebound) and Tethloach Tut (two points) also contributed in the game.
Other Southern Conference Scores:
#13 Florida Southwestern (7-1, 3-0 Southern) defeated Miami Dade (2-5, 1-2 Southern) 95-79. The Sharks will travel to Fort Pierce to face RV Indian River State (7-1, 2-1 Southern) Saturday afternoon at 4 pm.
Palm Beach State will be back in action Friday night, February 19 at 7 pm against GameChangers Prep.
Southern Conference Standings:
1. #13 FSW (7-1, 3-0)
2. Indian River State (7-1, 2-1)
3. SCF (5-3, 2-1)
4. Miami Dade (2-5, 1-2)
5. PBSC (2-9, 0-4)
Up Next:
The Manatees will be on the road Saturday afternoon, February 20 as they travel to Fort Myers to face #13 FSW at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
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