Ridgewood's Anders Nearing Milestone
Us journalists aren't too good with numbers, so we out-source all our milestone calculations to a small conservative-leaning think tank in the northwest corner of the United Kingdom.
Well, the Trans-Atlantic Pony Express just rolled in (you really didn't think Lightning was living off the royalties from Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, did you?) and here's what's up: Ridgewood coach Gary Anders is on pace to to tally his 500th win on Jan. 18. Just so happens, the Rams face Land O'Lakes, which came within a rimmed-out last-second shot of upsetting Ridgewood when the two teams squared off in mid-December.
Anders, now in his 21st season at Ridgewood, entered the season with 484 career victories. The Rams improved to 13-3 with a 72-33 win over River Ridge Tuesday night, moving the total to 497. Anders should reach 498 on Friday night with a win over Central, setting up a huge week that could give the coach the milestone and his team the Sunshine Athletic Conference championship.
First comes Wesley Chapel, which Ridgewood defeated 75-59 in December. A win over the Wildcats would set up a huge showdown with Land O'Lakes on Jan. 18. The Gators are the only team in Pasco County to test the Rams this year, coming within a rimmed-out last-second shot of beating them in December.
Ridgewood won that game 70-69.
Anders will become just the eighth basketball coach in Tampa Bay area history to reach the 500-win plateau.
Here are the others:
Mike Wells, Admiral Farragut/Keswick Boys basketball (1980-2006, 614-283)
Dan Wright, Lakewood Boys basketball, (1977-current, 588-263)
Jan Bennett, Tampa Bay Tech/Brandon Boys/girls basketball, (1971-2001, 563-334)
Herman Valdes, Robinson/Bayshore Boys basketball, (1970-2002, 557-173)
Frank Vining, East Bay/Hillsborough/Brandon Boys basketball, (1966-1995, 502-199 *)
Tom Shaneyfelt, Clearwater girls basketball, (1983-present 525-????)
Dave Bintz, Northside/Calvary Boys basketball, (1975-current 500-347)
*Anders is 497-165
The St. Petersburg Times High School Sports blog is written and compiled by the Times preps sports staff from Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties. We invite your participation in the comments area.
You forgot Freddie Dyles, Gibbs
Posted by: | January 09, 2008 at 07:45 PM