By Kyle LoJacono
The third annual Ulrich Family Classic at Wiregrass Ranch High was kind to the boys basketball teams from Wesley Chapel-based schools.
Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel won their matchups, topping Clearwater Central Catholic 82-48 and Freedom 57-38, respectively.
Wildcats (18-4) coach Doug Greseth said it was good to see his squad get back on track after dropping a 67-65 contest the night before against Anclote.
“That’s probably our best defensive effort of the year,” Greseth said. “We were very aggressive tonight. We got contributions from all five players. Freedom came in here 13-2. They beat Armwood, who beat us. It was just a really good, solid performance.”
Wesley Chapel, which played the third of four games at the event, was led by Erik Thomas, who had 35 points and 11 rebounds.
The senior forward, who said his top college choice is currently Tennessee State University, entered the contest averaging 33.5 points and 17.3 rebounds, but the Patriots offered a formidable challenge with eight players at least 6-foot-2.
“We do a lot of help defense and ball pressure,” Thomas said. “We all helped on screens. We were just all on it tonight. They have some big guys, but we do too. We had to keep pressure on them and make them turn the ball over.”
The Wildcats were given a boost from the play of 6-foot-7 junior center Marcus Hayne, who had nine points and pulled down five rebounds.
“If Marcus Hayne will play like that every game we’re going to be very hard to beat,” Greseth said.
The Bulls (15-4) forced a running clock in the third quarter of the night cap against the Marauders (6-13). Wiregrass Ranch scored nearly at will, but didn’t click as well on the other end of the court.
“Sometimes when we start hitting a lot of shots we forget we have to play defense, and that hurts us,” said Bulls coach Jeremy Calzone. “We’re trying to teach them that we have to play defense all the time. … There’s no secret we try to run and shoot, but if we can just get the defense fixed we’ll be all right.”
Senior forward Rico Kerney led Wiregrass Ranch on offense and defense, scoring 22 points and recording seven rebounds despite sitting out most of the second half with the Bulls comfortably in the lead.
Senior guards Chris Parra and Dimarco Burgess added 16 and nine points, respectively.
Land O’ Lakes lost 65-49 to East Lake in the first game of the day.
The Gators (7-9) were tied 28-28 with the Eagles (5-8) at halftime, but East Lake’s trap defense made it hard for Land O’ Lakes to get the ball up the floor after the break.
The Gators were also without senior center Victor Obi, who has missed the last three games with a concussion. His brother, Mike Obi, led the attack for Land O’ Lakes with 17 points and five rebounds. Brandon Dorsey scored 12, guard Taddeus Dixon had nine points and Seth Galbraith added eight points and 10 rebounds.
The event was created by Calzone to remember the Ulriches, who died in a plane crash in 2010. Lexi Ulrich was a student at Wiregrass Ranch and would have been a member of the class of 2012.
Part of the money brought in goes to a scholarship fund in the Ulrich family name. Stan Glantz, Lexi’s grandfather, attended the event and received a signed T-shirt from the Bulls squad before their game.
“It’s awesome the way the school has helped us put this on,” Calzone said. “I really wish more people would come out because I think this is something we can really make special in Pasco County and make this the hotbed for basketball. As we do it every year and get different teams in from all over the state and make it bigger, hopefully we’ll get even more fan support.”
—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker
