Southeast Boys Slip Past Riverview

The boys basketball team eventually got the message on Tuesday night.

Playing its fifth game in six days, Southeast outscored host Riverview High 26-7 over a stretch that encompassed eight minutes and one second of the second half and moved to 6-0 with a 62-56 victory. The difference for the Seminoles, whose first-half effort was criticized by head coach Elliot Washington, may have been an explosive and inspirational halftime speech from Washington.

"I had to pull out a Sunday sermon at halftime to get these guys prepped and motivated to play," Washington said. "We've played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. Then, we have a game on Thursday (against Lakewood Ranch), but it still shouldn't be an excuse for lollygagging and moping around. Teams are going to come out and give you their best shot."

Washington played at Southeast for the legendary Bob Carroll before moving on to Manatee Community College and the University of Alabama, where he played for Harry Kinnan and Wimp Sanderson, respectively. All three, plus Washington's father, were channeled during the 10 minutes between the second and third quarters.

"I got a lot of teachers, so I've drawn a lot of inspiration from those guys and gained a wealth of knowledge from (being coached by his father in) the youth leagues to the college level," Washington said. "It's fun. I just like competing."

The Seminoles jumped out to an early 9-4 run, but ran into foul trouble in the first half with the Rams reaching the bonus in the first quarter and Southeast starting forward Kenneth Cooper picking up his fourth foul with 3:08 left in the second quarter. Riverview tied the game at 22 on the first of three 3-pointers by Eric Traver with 4:26 left in the second quarter and took its first lead of the game with a pair of Sean Purdy free throws two minutes later.

Second-year head coach B.J. Ivey's squad went to the stripe nine more times than the Seminoles did in the first half and should have enjoyed a bigger lead than a 32-30 advantage at the break. However, they only converted eight of their 15 free throws over the first 16 minutes and finished the game 16-for-29 from the line.

After Antonio Ray started the decisive run with 4:23 left in the third quarter, teammate Reggie Smalls scored all six of his third-quarter points in a span of 1:23. Traver's second 3-pointer and starting center Nemo Rmus' only basket of the second half gave the Rams a 37-36 lead after three quarters.

Senior guard Adrian Richards scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer with 7:37 left that gave Southeast a lead it would never relinquish. Using their press defense, the Seminoles got several more layups in transition as they built a 54-39 lead.

Smalls led three Seminoles in double figures with a game-high 20 points. Ray was the team's second leading scorer on the night with 13 points.

While Southeast heeded the words of its head coach, the Rams' second-half performance left Ivey speechless upon his postgame arrival in the locker room. Of the 29 turnovers Southeast forced, 19 were committed by Riverview's backcourt players.

"I hate to say this, but a lot of coaching is about 'Jimmys and Joes,' not Xs and Os," Ivey said. "The 'Jimmys and Joes' didn't put it through the hoop (on Tuesday)."

Riverview began a little run of its own on a pair of Traver free throws with 3:01 remaining. The 17-4 run ended when Jeremy Jones completed a three-point play to make it a four-point game with 11.9 seconds remaining.

Traver and Jones scored 16 points and 15 points, respectively. They were followed in the scoring column by Rmus and reserve Andrew Murray, who each had 10 points.

SOUTHEAST (62)

Antonio Ray 5 3-5 13, Kenneth Cooper 2 0-0 4, Reggie Smalls 8 3-4 20, Adrian Richards 4 2-3 11, Travon Pompey 0 1-2 1, Kevin Williams 3 0-0 6, Markene Jean 2 2-2 7. Totals 24 11-16 62.

RIVERVIEW (56)

Sean Purdy 2 2-2 4, Jeremy Jones 4 7-13 15, Eric Traver 5 3-7 16, Tyreek Lang 0 1-3 1, Nemo Rmus 5 0-1 10, Adnan Dedic 0 0-0 0, Andrew Murray 3 3-3 10, Nick Havener 0 0-0 0, Josh Boychek 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 16-29 56.

Southeast 18 10 8 26 - 62

Riverview 13 17 7 19 - 56

3-point goals - Smalls, Richards, Jean, Traver 3, Murray. Fouled out - Cooper, Pompey, Jean. Total fouls - Southeast 28, Riverview 16. Technicals - Southeast (scorebook violation). Records - Southeast 6-0, Riverview 3-3.