Sickles played really good defense. You're not going to beat a team by only scoring 35 points. They did what they had to do to win and what a great year they've had. I'm not saying we didn't have a great year, but Coach Garcia has done an excellent job with his kids.
I wish we could have made our shots early. But our defense early was the difference. Our defense won the game for us.
If I told you what I said, you would have to use a lot of those shift keys on the keyboard. It was my fault. I got frustrated and said things I shouldn't.
He has always been a good shooter. After he got about halfway through his junior varsity year, we saw he could be a good player because he could shoot the ball.
I think we're a decent basketball team. I hope we can get better.
(Jefferson) made that run at us and we just wanted to make some shots. We got some shots and some lay ups and just kept playing our defense.
Our kids showed heart, but Eastside played very hard and physically. They were the better team today and deserved to win.
Our kids worked hard for everything they got this year. I would love to get the first half back in the finals, but that is the sport. Every day, every single day, these guys showed up for practice and worked hard to succeed.
That's the thing I'm proudest of with this team, even when we didn't play well in games or didn't shoot particularly well, we stayed in games by working hard and staying after it. We beat a very good, well-coached team tonight.
We needed more shots to go in the basket in the first and second quarters. We had some good looks. We've been making them all year. The bottom line is when you get good looks against a good team, you have to knock them down.
We needed to make a couple more shots early on. A bucket here or there, who knows, it might have been different.
When I found out they were moving the game, I told my AD to call the FHSAA and tell them don't move it, don't change the game because of us.
We don't need any heroes. Our guys just need to do what they do.
We lost. You lose by 30, you lose by one it hurts. We could have rolled over and it could have been 40, but I've been proud of these guys all year and they proved without a doubt they deserve to be here, I think.
Those shots were big. That got us going.
This team has as much heart as any team I've coached. I think this is a team with a lot of heart, guts and courage. When they're down by 27 points, they didn't give up.
We tried to double team sometimes, and maybe that had something to do with it. If they throw you the ball and then you turn in a different direction and there's a man in your face, that's tough. Kids react differently and that got us turnovers.
We just needed to get the ball to go in the basket maybe in the first and second quarter a little more. A couple of shots here or there. Then maybe if we can make a run, it could have been a little different.
With Largo, one night one guy might score 18 points, and the next night it'll be a couple different guys. They've got to be doing something right to get their ranking. They've played good teams as well.
We don't want him out there shooting 3-pointers unless it's a desperation last shot. He might make one. He's a good shooter, but that wasn't the time to do so.
Of course you always think you can get there, but I didn't really know if this might be a possibility at the beginning. But the kids, they got better every day.
As he got older, he became stronger and his speed improved. He also grew defensively.
This game was a lot of fun. It was nice to meet the kids you coached against. You always were able to see them, but it was fun to meet them and I had a great group of kids.
This award is a tribute to the players. They just never gave up.
They never, ever stop playing hard no matter what. I couldn't be more proud of everything they've accomplished.
They didn't seem to back away from hard work, but they didn't start working that hard together. However, they worked better together as each game progressed. They wanted to win and just kept getting better.
At halftime, I told them not to come out of the locker room unless they would come fight, scratch, claw, whatever they had to do until the end of the game.
It makes you feel good that people are pulling for you.
They were beat up and pretty tired. They contributed that first night, but not like they have for the past month and a half. It took them a while to get used to a ball they could dribble.
I learned a long time ago that rankings don't mean all that much. All I know is that we're (one of two teams left). And that's the only ranking that matters.
I'm just proud of my kids, how we kept battling when the game was tight, and we were able to pull away.
I am proud of the guys on our team. They did everything I could ask for.
