Bobcats hoops off to 6-3 start

Stallions’ other soccer team surging

Published December 18th, 2007

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

The Boca Raton High boys basketball team is 6-3 at this point in the season, and Coach Manny Bloom is happy with the results so far.

“I think everything’s going real well,” he said.

The Bobcats shocked undefeated Santaluces at home last Tuesday, then suffered a surprise defeat of their own to John I. Leonard Wednesday night.

The loss wasn’t a cause of concern for Bloom, as he pointed out that the Bobcats were playing their seventh game in nine days – with two of them coming in Texas.

“We just ran out of gas a little bit,” he said.

Senior transfer Colby Wohlleb has been as good as advertised, averaging 20 points in his first three games. Since then, others have stepped up their efforts. In fact, starters Greg Westry, Jon Peterson, Mike Technow, Wohlleb and Anthony Anderson all average double figures in scoring.

Anderson, a freshman, is also improving as the season goes along.

“I think we’re going to gradually mature,” Bloom said. “Having a freshman point guard, we’re just going to get better and better.”

The key for the Bobcats will be to get up for games against lesser teams like they do against the top teams they have played.

Boca Raton’s next big game is against Mount Verde Dec. 22, then the Bobcats host the Boca Raton High New Year’s Bash Jan. 2-3, where they will compete against American Heritage-Plantation, Grandview Prep, and American Christian School, which boasts one of the top players in the country in Tyreke Evans.

Stallions peaking

Lost in the hoopla surrounding the girls soccer team’s 17-0 start is the American Heritage-Delray boys soccer team, which quietly improved to 9-3-1 with an 11-0 thrashing of Calvary Christian School Thursday.

“We’ve kind of turned a corner,” Stallions coach Alvin James said. “We had a real good showing going up to Spanish River. The team has come together, they’re working hard.”

The Stallions won that match easily, 4-1, and have not allowed a goal in the two matches since then.

Hasani Sinclair is again the Heritage top scorer with 16 goals and eight assists, with Alex Bidos close behind. Bidos led the team with three goals in the win against Calvary.

The Stallions are also getting healthy as the season winds down.

Stopper Ukwen Akpoji pulled his hamstring and won’t be back until January, while forward Devir Zivan – out since before the season started with a knee injury – should return for the tail end of the district playoffs.

“It’s a matter of getting him physically healthy to play,” James said.

The defense has been solid, and goalkeeper Richard Rogers has been his usual steady self.

The attention focused on the girls from the outside world may be overshadowing the boys, but James said, “From a school point of view, I wouldn’t think so. We’re a soccer school and we get a lot of notoriety during the season.”

The Stallions’ recent play has also convinced James that the team has what it takes to return to the state final for the third straight year under his guidance.

“At this point, yes,” he said. “At the beginning I thought otherwise. But from what I’ve seen in practice, we should be able to challenge again.”