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Heritage Eagles advance in FCC Sports Thursday, 18 February 2010 00:34 By Rick Pedone Sports Editor Heritage Christian’s two big guns came out blazing, boosting the Eagles to a 57-48 win over Venice Christian in the quarterfinal round of the Florida Christian Conference boys basketball playoffs Tuesday at the Eagle gym. Forward Joshua Newman scored 12 of his game-high 22 points in the first quarter, and guard Maynard Rowe scored 13 of his 20 points in the first half as Heritage, 18-6, built a 33-17 advantage at the intermission. Newman, a sophomore, said there was nothing fancy about the Eagles’ philosophy Tuesday: “Everything to the paint,” he said.”We did a pretty good job in the first half, then we let up a little in the second half.” Rowe said Heritage did well considering that it hadn’t played a game since a 52-50 win over Celebration Feb. 5. “We hadn’t played in a while,” he said. “The difference is, in the playoffs, if you lose, you’re done. I didn’t worry about that, though.” Heritage, seeded No. 2 in the Eastern Conference, meets No. 1 Western Conference seed Faith Christian today at 7 p.m. at Land ‘O Lakes Christian School. Faith is the defending conference champion. Heritage dominated Venice Christian in the first quarter Tuesday, jumping to a 19-8 lead as Newman and Rowe combined for 17 points. Newman nailed a pair of 3-point shots in the first quarter when the Eagles snapped a 4-4 tie by going on a 23-7 run through the second quarter to build a 27-11 advantage. The Eagles smothered the Lions on the boards, holding a 19-6 edge in rebounds in the first half even though Venice had the tallest player on the floor, 6-6 center Jack May. “We knew if we got to 55 to 60 points, we should win the game,” Eagles Coach Jim Estrella said. “We hadn’t seen them in a few years. They’ve got a couple of nice players.” Venice, led by forwards Robert Dolby (21) and Cedric Jackson (14) made it a game in the third quarter, twice closing the gap to nine points. But, Heritage center Preston Bass scored all of his points (3) in the third period when he stole an outlet pass from May and scored a basket, then drew a foul to complete the three-point play. That stopped a six-point run by Venice. “We tell Preston all the time to use his size. He’s only a sophomore and he’s going to fill out and get stronger,” Estrella said. When Venice cut the Eagles’ lead to seven with 40 seconds to play, Eagles point guard Emilio Giler put on a dribbling exhibition to run down the clock. “He has ice water in his veins, nothing bothers him,” Estrella said. Faith defeated Heritage for the conference championship last year. “They are extremely talented, but you never know what will happen,” Estrella said.   Please register or log in to post comments. JComments