Gulf's sophomore center is turning heads in Class 4A, District 10

By JAMAL THALJI

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Tiara Cook has it all.

The Gulf center is 6-feet tall, making her one of Pasco County's tallest post players. Her production makes her its best post player. She averages 20.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and two blocks, all county highs.

But that's not all. Cook's frame is athletic, her feet fleet. She has a long wingspan and quick hands. Her speed belies her size.

Then there's her age. She is a sophomore.

So she's young, talented and productive.

Now, this season, comes the final pieces:

Maturity. Savvy. Experience. Leadership.

Cook has added the intangibles to her burgeoning repertoire, and that means trouble for teams in the Class 4A, District 10 tournament which opens Tuesday at Wesley Chapel.

"She's great, and now she's learning to understand the game," said first-year coach Mike Quarto. "Tiara is really new to this game and when she really learns that rebounding and playing underneath is 90-percent positioning, she is going to be a force to be reckoned with."

This is only her fourth season of organized basketball. Cook said she hated the sport until her mother, former Clearwater star Monique Ellis, forced a ball into her daughter's talented hands. Gulf is fortunate that mom did so.

When freshman point guard Dominique English went down with a knee injury weeks ago, the Buccaneers' hot 6-2 start was endangered.

The team lurched from a fast break transition team to a patient halfcourt game, and Cook had to replace her friend English as the center.

It was toughest on Cook, a slasher who brags that "I'll go through somebody to get the basket."

In two years of middle school games and summer leagues, she only knew English's pace of the game.

"I'm used to running, I've played with Dominique for two years now," Cook said. "I'm not used to having to set up stuff. Time and time again she was like 'Go down and score.' "

Only now it was up to Cook to score, and to help her teammates do the same.

"We made a decision when Dominique went down that we couldn't play the full court game," Quarto said. "We needed to pound the ball inside to get other teams in foul trouble and to get ourselves to the foul line."

Cook has adapted, becoming a 62-percent free throw shooter. She leads the county in attempts made, hitting 176 of 285.

She also had to handle the leadership role, on and off the floor, that passed from English to her. To do that, she needed "anger management" as she put it

"When we're doing bad, my mental focus disappears," Cook said. "1 just find myself getting off track and getting mad."

Carrying all that pressure didn't help, either.

"If I have a bad day, the whole team looks at me like 'We can't do it,'" Cook said. "Now I know what it feels like to have a team look up at me when we lose ' and say 'What happened?'"

She had to learn to manage her frustration with herself and her teammates when they were less-than-perfect. So she ,, sought help: teammate Paris Parr.

"Paris, she's the one that keeps me in my game," Cook said. "Without her I would have fouled out of every game like crazy. She'll hold my hand in the huddle and say 'You can do this. Calm down.' She is amazing."

So are the Bucs. Last year this cast, sans English, was 2-19. While English, was out the team went 9-5. Now at full ; strength, Gulf is 16-7, and Cook looks to keep the team strong for years to come.

"To be 15-years-old and just a sophomore in high school, putting up those numbers, doing what she's doing?" Quarto said, "That's amazing."