Teams Gear Up For Districts

From tbo.com

WESLEY CHAPEL - With teams in the stretch run of the regular season as the districts loom, some teams seem to be in overdrive while others may be navigating choppy waters.

Wesley Chapel, to the surprise of its coach Karim Nohra, was undefeated despite having five new starters and Nohra in his first year as the Wildcats' coach.

"Was" is the key word. Mitchell took care of that Friday when the Mustangs handed the Wildcats their first loss of the season, 50-35 at Wesley Chapel.
Nohra almost seemed relieved, though he wasn't exactly happy about the result.

"It was a load off of my shoulders," Nohra said. "I was shocked at being undefeated in early January, extremely shocked. But I thought we'd go down at some point. I just didn't know when the streak would end. Each game was pressure."
Nohra heaped praise on Mitchell.

"They came to kick our butts and they did," he said. He later admitted injures are starting to take a toll.

First, the Wildcats have played without their leading scorer and rebounder Janelle Mills, who is recuperating from a broken wrist. Pending tests from Wednesday, Mills may return by district.

"You take any team and take their best scorer out, will they go undefeated?" Nohra rhetorically asked. "Not happening."

Hannah Noble turned her ankle in the loss to Mitchell, making her unavailable late in the game.

DIFFERENT STORY: While Wesley Chapel is limping to the finish line of the regular season, Wiregrass Ranch seems to be in overdrive. After losing their second game of the season to Wesley Chapel back in mid-November, the Bulls have won 16 straight.

Like his counterpart at Wesley Chapel, Wiregrass coach Greg Finkel seems taken aback about how well the Bulls have played. Already the 16 wins is a school record.

Wiregrass is in its third year of existence and Finkel saw signs of promise last season, but nothing to suggest the Bulls would be their current dominant self.

"We've had some big wins against Gulf and Nature Coast and Land O' Lakes," Finkel said. "Those are games you are not expecting to win at all."
Finkel went on to say how the Bulls have been playing "wonderful" following a win last week against Hudson.

Not unlike Wesley Chapel, the Bulls have been winning without the benefit of a strong inside presence. Wiregrass also has a deep bench which Finkel uses liberally.

"They've got a lot of girls," Hudson coach Aaron Lounsbury said. "They keep coming and there's not a drop off."

NASTY TEST: Gulf (16-3) gets an early taste of what the postseason brings when it faces two of Pasco County's strongest teams in consecutive nights and one of the area's top teams to end a six-day, three-game stretch.

Tonight, the Buccaneers host Wiregrass; Friday, Gulf travels to Mitchell; Tuesday the Buccaneers will play Brooksville Nature Coast at home. The three teams are a combined 34-11 with Mitchell coming off a road upset of previously undefeated Wesley Chapel.