Chipola Goes for 5 in a Row
By: Dustin Kent - JCFloridan.com
After notching their fourth consecutive Panhandle Conference victory on Saturday night in Pensacola, the No. 9 Chipola Indians will go for five in a row Tuesday night when they host the Gulf Coast State Commodores at 7:30 p.m.
Chipola (22-2 overall, 5-2 in the Panhandle Conference) took a 66-62 win over Pensacola State on Saturday night, turning back a second half rally by the Pirates, who erased a nine-point deficit to briefly take a 50-48 lead in the second half.
Kruize Pinkins finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Indians, while Cinmeon Bowers added 15 points, with Chris Thomas scoring nine, and Demetrious Floyd eight.
Qiyar Davis had 18 points for the Pirates, with Dawuud Salaam scoring 12, Denzel Richardson 11, and Josh Turner 10.
The loss dropped Pensacola to 2-5 in Panhandle play and in sole possession of fourth place in the league standings.
Chipola trails first-place Northwest Florida State (7-1) by just a game in the loss column, with the Commodores a full game back of the Indians in third.
With a win Tuesday, the Indians can get two games clear of the Commodores with four to play for the second state tournament berth from the Panhandle.
That makes this matchup significant to both teams' pursuit of the postseason.
"It's a very big game," Chipola coach Patrick Blake said Monday. "(The Commodores) are obviously a very talented team. It took a team effort for 40 minutes to come away with a win at their place, and tomorrow night will be no different. We'll have to play one of our best games of the year to come away with a win."
Chipola won the first meeting with Gulf Coast 87-75 on Jan. 19 in Panama City, overcoming 11 made three-pointers by the Commodores by shooting 52 percent from the field and forcing 22 Gulf Coast turnovers.
"We did a good job of turning them over and getting some easy points for ourselves. I thought that was the biggest key," Blake said of the win. "Unfortunately, when they didn't turn the ball over, they were very efficient offensively. They may be the most talented offensive team in the league."
The Commodores are led by the dynamic guard trio of Chad Frazier, Jose Rodriguez, and Devon Baulkman, who combine to average 49.5 points and 9.8 assists per game this season.
Rodriguez led all scorers with 29 points in the first game, but he shot just 7-of-21 from the field, and the trio only converted 13-of-37 for the game.
But Gulf Coast made 11-of-25 from the three-point lane and knocked in 22-of-24 free throws, two categories in which Blake said his team must perform better this time around.
"The key is going to be trying to create turnovers, but when we do get them in the half-court, we have to play better team defense and get stops," he said. "We have to do a better job of guarding the three-point line and not allow them to get to the free throw line so much. We need to do a good job of guarding aggressively without fouling."
The Indians currently have five players in double figures scoring, led by Carlos Morris' 12.8 points per game, while Pinkins leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game, and sophomore point guard Terel Hall is averaging a team-high 5.4 assists per game.
While Tuesday's game is big for the race to secure a spot in the state tournament, the Indians still have larger ambitions of winning a Panhandle championship, with still one more matchup to go with the Raiders on Feb. 13.
However, Blake said that isn't his team's primary focus at this point.
"We're aware of the conference standings and where we are, but it's more about getting this team prepared to play well," he said. "The only thing we can control is how we prepare and how we practice every day. That has been our focus, to take advantage of every opportunity we have in the gym to work and get better."