Chipola Contains Central Florida: Advances In FCCAA Tourney
March 5, 2008
By Chipola Staff
#2 Chipola held down Central
Florida in the first round of the
FCCAA State Tournament, getting big
contributions from two freshman
front-court players, Gary Flowers
and Jon Kreft. The Indian duo each
scored 15 points, helping the
Panhandle Conference Champion
represent the league with a 73-62
win on Wednesday night.
“We were sluggish tonight,” said
Chipola head coach Greg Heiar. “We
didn’t shoot the ball well from the
perimeter and that gave them a
chance to hang around. But the key
thing in tournament play is to
survive and advance.”
The Indians did survive, despite
shooting just 43% from the field and
13% (2-16) from the 3pt line. Couple
that with a 55% night at the foul
line (17-31), and the Indians were
never able to shake the Mid-Florida
runner-up Patriots until the final
few minutes.
“We played pretty good on the
defensive end,” said Heiar. “But
right before the end of the first
half we had a letdown that kept them
in the game.”
Leading 27-15 with 4:28 to play in
the 1st half, Chipola stumbled to
just a four point half time lead at
31-27.
The Patriots took a 40-39 lead with
17:30 to play in the game before
Chipola responded with a 10-1 run.
The Indians would not trail the rest
of the way.
In addition to his 15 points,
Flowers hauled in a game high 12
rebounds, helping Chipola to their
30th win of the season, now holding
a 30-1 record.
“I think all of our guys are happy
to get the first one out of the
way,” said Heiar. “I have a lot of
confidence in this team and I know
that we have better days ahead.”
Freshman Vernon Teel added 13
points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4
steals in the win.
Sophomore Mario Edwards had 13
points and 4 rebounds to round out
the double-digit scorers for
Chipola.
Up next for Chipola is a semi-final
match-up with Indian River. The
Southern Conference Champions are
22-8 on the season after defeating
Manatee 99-92 on Wednesday night in
the quarter-finals.
The game can be seen live via
webcast at 6:00 pm CST.