Noel Cabrera
Sports Editor
“Coach told us from the beginning, we got to play hard no matter what,” said sophomore guard Andre Anderson in an interview with The Observer. “Playing hard and creating plays is what we need in order to win.”
The Seahawks have headed into the second half of the season consisting of solemnly conference play matchup, which will dictate their run at states and nationals. So far, they are 2-1 in the first three games of conference play after finishing the first half of the season 10-4.
Beating Miami Dade College (MDC) 98-93 in the first game set the tone for the Seahawks and what they really bring to the table this season. That win moved the Seahawks up in rankings in the state of Florida to the tenth spot.
“They brought that toughness and defensive intensity forward the whole game,” said Team Manager Freddy Johnson in an interview with The Observer post-game. The Seahawks played their way into foul trouble and many didn’t realize this but since the thirteenth mark in the second half, they were playing with no substitutes. Sophomore guard Trandon Smith and freshmen forward Josmel Martinez fouled out, who both played big roles on the court.
Unfortunately, the Seahawks were faced with another setback when the top recruited player and scorer on the team, Sophomore forward Deandre Pickney, went down with an injury in his leg and was forced to sit out the rest of the game.
Those setbacks did not put the Seahawks to rest. The whole team stepped up and played well, others more than most. With their top offensive weapon going down, everyone turned to sophomore guard Darion Jenkins who led the team with 30 points, prior to two games before that he also finished with 32 points.
“When something like that happens, everyone looked to DJ as if telling him what you can do, you got to do right now,” said Team Manager Johnson referring to Jenkins.
Neither team had a double-digit lead the whole game; the biggest lead the entire game was 8. It was a back and forth between two highly talented teams.
Towards the end, they started to do really well at executing the defensive plan. When they stopped trapping is when the threes stopped raining in for Miami Dade. Most of the game the Seahawks were trapping on defense but then MDC would benefit more than expected. Once they picked up on that it would lead to a skip pass down to either the corner of the wing and there would be a wide-open three for MDC.
Soon enough, Head Coach Anthony Anderson realized that and told the boys to stay home on the defensive end and to stay solid. Something Coach A continuously would repeat, “stay solid, stay solid.”
Another player that stood out in this matchup, without having an impact in the box score was guard Andre Anderson on the defensive end and being a facilitator on the offensive end. Sophomore guard Landon Kirkwood finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Coming off the bench, freshman guard Rodney Lewis Jr. scored an impressive 21 points and freshman guard Amir Brikat played a contributing role down the stretch with 13 points, making clutch layups toward the end of the game to seal the victory.
With this talent of players and coaches, the men’s Seahawks team should look to finish in the top 10 nonetheless. They look to come out on top with these next couple of conference games in the upcoming days. Seahawks home court is located at Broward College Central Campus.
cabrn9@mail.broward.edu
