The story of Gulf boys basketball just keeps getting better

This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on Feb. 19, 2002.

NEW PORT RICHEY - It fit like nothing else ever has.

With a compulsive gesture, Gulf senior Lytsz Diometre became the first to make sense of this boys basketball season, of a program that hadn't come close to a district title in 32 years securing its first in 39.

Coach Steve Feldman stood in the background, both arms raised to the sky in a pose of exaltation. Players hugged. Fans screamed.

Diometre walked toward the center of the court almost laughing. His green jersey - Feldman let Ridgewood wear its home white even though the Rams technically were the road team - rested inside out.

Backward.

Oh, did it fit.

Gulf, a perennial under-.500 team for decades, rises to the most wins in school history, bettering by two the squad that went 21-4 and advanced to the state final four in 1963.

Gulf, the team that carried a three-game losing streak into the tournament and trailed sub-.500 Hudson entering the fourth quarter of the semifinals, surfaces after a 13-point, first-half deficit in the championship game to win by 10.

Gulf, the team you look at and wonder how it won 15 games, let alone 23, puts together the most impressive run in Pasco County history.

The Bucs won't win a state title. It would be a shock if they made it to the final four. But what they've done with their resources is remarkable.

``This is beyond my wildest expectations,'' Feldman said as he stared at the Class 4A-District 8 trophy. ``This is something very special.''

Saturday they did it with one of their best players, Craig Pridemore, a game-time decision because of a sprained knee.

``That describes kind of the way our team's been all year,'' Feldman said. ``Gut it up and when the chips are down they are going to find a way to do something. Craig was the example of that. His stat line is not big, but just the way he gutted it up.''

They did it with a freshman, Justin Sconiers, scoring 11 points, second-most on the team.

``Coach said we hadn't even been here in 39 years and it would be special to win it,'' Sconiers said. ``It was my first time being on a winning team. Last year I got second place in middle school, but there is no feeling like that.''

Above all else, though, they did it with an intangible hard to measure.

``These kids never fail to surprise me or amaze me,'' Feldman said. ``They dug down very, very deep and decided how bad they wanted it and showed an incredible amount of guts and heart. That's what its really been all year.''

Things nearly went this way last season. The Bucs opened 11-2. But they weren't ready to wear their jerseys backwards just yet. Gulf finished 14-13.

But it taught them something. The first winning team in Feldman's seven seasons, the Bucs realized how far they still had to go to upend almost four decades of history.

To turn them inside out.

``What a wonderful odyssey this has been,'' Feldman said. ``It's unbelievable. This story just keeps getting better and better.''