When Needed, Boca Ciega Boys Hoops Squad Knows Who to Count on

Most local basketball fans know that Boca Ciega point guard Kenny Smith is a very good basketball player. A lot of players have skills but not all have the desire or can set aside their egos.

Smith isn't one of them. A player who prides himself as being a team leader, an overtime win over Northeast to win the Northeast Holiday tournament spoke volumes about Smith's heart.

Smith was so overcome with the flu, many would not have even tried to play. Despite bouts of vomiting prior to the tipoff, Smith couldn't and wouldn't sit the game out.

Boca Ciega played sluggish and it appeared Northeast would upset the Pirates, handing Boca Ciega its first loss of the season. Smith would have none of it.

Trailing 52-42 late in the third, Smith scored 12 straight points for the Pirates to tie the game at 54-54. Late in the game he had a steal and a layup to help set up a key assist on the next trip down the floor to send the game into overtime which Boca Ciega won 86-75.

Smith shrugged his shoulders when reminded of that game, acting as if it was his responsibility to his teammates that he played, and played so well.

"Yeah, I felt bad, but I am the leader," Smith said. "This is my team. I had no choice. I had to do my stuff."

His "stuff" isn't just scoring. Smith will do whatever it takes to make sure the Pirates win. If it's rebounding, he will do that. If it's finding an open man for a better shot, so be it. If it takes a steal to set up a key possession, done deal.

"We wouldn't be where we are without him," Smith's teammate Kyonn Smith said. "He goes hard to the rim every single day. He gives it his all. He brings chemistry to the team. He brings us together.

"He's the best finishing point guard I have ever seen from a little guy. You normally don't expect a little guy to do those things but he does it well. I don't really know how he does some of the things he does."

When he hears accolades like that from his teammates, Kenny Smith just smiles.

"I can put this team on my shoulders. It's my team. I can do it."