Sports
Northeast Hopes to Continue Hot Streak Against Gibbs
Still buzzing over its buzzer-beating upset over Clearwater, Northeast High School's boys basketball squad faces a known foe in Gibbs tonight.
ST. PETERSBURG - It was moments after Northeast had upset Clearwater in a Class 5A region quarterfinal. The ground was still shaking after Andres Sanchez's buzzer beater of a shot gave the Vikings the win.
His players were still celebrating, the voices of fans outside could be heard inside the locker room. Yet behind the ear-to-ear smile, Northeast coach Dave Redding was still calm.
"We have had nail biters all year," Redding said.
And he's right. But those nail biters never had quite the drama of last week's game, which advanced Northeast to a region semifinal game tonight at Gibbs.
The two teams are more than familiar with each other, having squared off four times this season. Three times Gibbs has won, twice by significant margins including two weeks ago when the Gladiators beat Northeast for a district title 63-45.
Part of that loss could have been a trap game as the previous evening Northeast eliminated state power Boca Ciega from postseason play. Part of that loss to Gibbs could have been Sanchez's dislocated finger on his shooting hand which affected his shot.
Redding claims Sanchez's finger has healed sufficiently. Given Sanchez's 35-point game against Clearwater, Redding is likely correct.
"We take lesser teams and make them look tough and tough teams and make them look not so good," Redding joked after the Clearwater win.
Ironically, aside from Sanchez's heroics, Redding gave a lot of credit to the Vikings' bench, and not just during the game.
Northeast does not have a deep bench. If anything, it's shallow. Redding admits that "when push comes to shove" he may be any to go seven players deep without a massive dropoff.
But the development of his bench players in the latter part of the season may be why Northeast is still alive today.
"I was concerned [about depth in the Clearwater win] but they sucked it up and came through," Redding said. "I told my second group that they have come a long way in the second half. They can give the first team a go in practice. The second team is as responsible as anyone else as to where we are at."
