Basketball news

5/9/2012
Pasco-Hernando Community College basketball players Alvin Satram and Kelby Robinson have signed letters of intent to play basketball next fall. Robinson at Wiley College in Wiley, Tex. and Satram at Daemen College, located in Buffalo, N.Y. Both players will attend on an athletic scholarship. Both colleges participate within the NAIA organization. Satram who is a 4.00 student led the team in assists with 5.4 per game and he was the third leading score with 12.36 points per game. Robinson was the second leading scorer with an average of 14 points per game. He also averaged 4.7 rebounds per game. “Both players were very instrumental with helping the Conquistadors achieve their current record of 19-12. Both players are very good shooters and very competitive” said Coach Johnson. Satram handled point guard duties and hit a couple of last seconds big threes that were needed to win a couple of ball games. Robinson played the forward position and with his shooting ability he was very consistent with hitting double digits scoring in most games.

Season stats: Alvin Satram: 12.36 points per game, 5.4 assists per game, 2.2 steals per game, 43 percent field-goal percentage.
Season stats: Kelby Robinson: 14.0 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game, 1.3 steals per game, 42 percent field-goal percentage.

2/23/2012
The Conquistador men knew when the season was going to end. And with a new coach, James E. Johnson, and new team all they wanted was to win 50 percent of their regular season contests to have a post season bib. They achieved that and more.

Without a state conference tournament after the completion of the regular season, the Conquistadors wrapped up their second year of transition from NJCAA Division I to NJCAA Division II with an 86-77 win over Florida College at Florida College field house last Tuesday. It was a great finish despite the program’s rough start, losing five in a row to NJCAA Division I community colleges.

“Although we finished the season in a tough position,” said team captain William Ramos, “it will prepare us for the NJCAA Regional 10 tournament.” The team is heading to a post season tournament with this one game winning streak. Over the course of the season and after a loss they have managed to put together a three to four game winning streak. If history holds true and they play as well they could they will have a good chance to win the Region 10 tournament.

“This team really has the experience to win this thing if they come to play in the NJCAA Region 10 tournament,” Coach James E. Johnson said once this regular season ended. “It sealed a history making spot in my coaching career. This was my first team that produced close to a 20 win season, (18-11). When I started a charter school program, we had two back to back championships but we only played 15 games.”

The season got better after the 0-5 start. The Conquistadors won five of their next six games during the 2011 portion of the schedule. The team won eight of their 11 January contests, with a six game winning streak and five out of seven tilts in February.

“We have a veteran team and when we play together and everyone sticks to their roles we can be unstoppable,” said sophomore forward Kelby Robinson. Robinson closes out the season as the Conquistadors leading scorer with 14.5 points per game. The second leading scorer, Brice Smith said “that hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” Smith and Robinson shared leading score role responsibilities in seven games. The team number two captain Alvin Satram, added “We came a long way since the beginning of the season and definitely have enough talent to do some big things at regional if we work hard and play together.” Srdjan Jankovic the defense glove and Derrick Zio rebounder “king” for the Conquistadors will bring their work ethic and if the team matches their intensity they will be hard to stop.

Opponents struggled to get shots due to the Conquistadors constantly changing their defense through out the game. “We changed our defense so fast it is hard for me to keep up with what we are playing,” Coach Johnson said. Our veteran group has made it tough for most teams and when the under classmen played, they maintained the momenta of most games.

Although the Conquistadors graduate seven sophomores, returning players saw plenty of action in big ball games. The Conquistadors return freshman guard Ja'mil Jones (8.1 points) and freshman Larry Rivers, Jr. (4.1 points).

Reserves Michael Wood (3.2 points), Delonte Marshall (3.8 points), Scott Cargile (2.1 points) and Aron Handan all played in 15 games or more. Coach Johnson looks to add some recruits to bolster the roster.

2/9/2012
The Conquistadors (15-9) sealed a Region 10 playsoffs appearance on Tuesday, February 7 in an away contest against Trinity College. They are seeded in seventh place in the Region 10 standings, and are scheduled to play on Thursday March 8 at 7 p.m. against the #10 seed in Hickory, N.C. “We needed that victory to get a playsoff invitation, the players log many hours and work very hard daily and they deserve this opportunity,” said Coach Johnson. The team has five games left in their regular season schedule and they would like to end this season by wining 20 games. “That would be great for us, and when the teams come to play it is hard to beat us,” Coach Johnson concluded.

The win was led by freshman Michael Wood, a local standout from Ridgewood High School. He led all scores with 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. “Michael played with a lot of confidence and he should do well at this level,” commented Coach Johnson. Wood works hard in practice and he is one of those players that everyone enjoys being around. Scoring leader Brice Smith played with a lot of maturity and he added 16 points and 8 rebounds. Ladarius Barnes had 15 points.

The Conquistadors next home game is against Trinity College on February 13 at the PHCC Fitness Center at West Campus. The game time is 7 p.m. This will be the last home game for all sophmores. Please come out and celebrate with us the departure of: Bice Smith, Ladarius Barnes, Srdjan Jankovic, William Ramos, Kelby Robinson, Alvin Satram, and Derrick Zio. This will be their last home game as a PHCC Conquistadors team member.

2/6/2012
In the game with Northwood University JV, the Conquistadors (14-9) had an excellent performance from Ladarius Barnes; he scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and had two steals. “Barnes is a very explosive and quick player. He can get to the basket against most guards and he is a tough defensive player,” said Coach Johnson. Barnes played a lot of minutes in that contest for PHCC and he was clearly one of the best players on the floor. His shooting percentage was great and he hit a couple of three points shots that were high arch balls that hit only nets. Coach Johnson, also, said “I see great potential in him as a player and I wish he had another year to play for me.” Brice Smith and Ja’mil Jones also added to the the team victory contribution. Smith, the team leading scorer, hit 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds and added five assists. Jones had nine points and four assists.

The Conquistadors are in a hunt for a regional playoffs spot. They need to win one game to seal this spot. They have six games left to play on their schedule, they have one home game and five away games. “Our goal is to win out but we have enough games up under our belt to know that each of the five teams we play will be gunning for us. We will need to continue to maintain our focus and come to play every game like it is our last game,” said Coach Johnson.

The team’s next home game is against Trinity College February 13 at the PHCC Fitness Center located on the West Campus. Game time is 7 p.m.

1/31/2012
The Conquistadors (13-9) dropped two games in a row last week, one game on January 23 against Northwood University JV and the second loss on Jan 25, against Florida State College. After those two losses they picked up two back to back wins, the first win against Webber International University JV, and the second win against tough Division I foe Hillsborough Community College. The team accomplished two victories against Hillsborough Community College this season. HCC and PHCC are two teams that could be a great cross-town rivalry.

In the loss to Florida State College, Alvin Satram led all scorers with 17 points. In the loss to Northwood JV, Kelby Robinson, led all scorers with 20 points. This is the second game in which Robinson has scored 20 or more points. Also, in the Northwood contest, Alvin Satram, had 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Brice Smith had 10 rebounds, 5 assist, and 5 steals. Derrick Zio had 11 rebounds. In the victory over Webber International JV, all scores were led by Alvin Satram with 18 points and 7 assists. Srdjan Jankovic had 17 points and 4 assists. Brice Smith and Kelby Robinson each had 10 points.

The team welcomes Ja’mil Jones to the team. “Ja’mil brings that true point guard experience that we missed early in the year and that we need to continue to be a better team. He is a joy to watch, he is a great passer and he can shoot the ball well,” said Coach Johnson.

The Conquistadors continue to rely heavily on the bench support. “We have a team that has a starter on the bench, I would not be afraid to start Ja’mil Jones, Larry Rivers Jr., and Mike Jones,” Coach Johnson proudly said. “They are tough players and they actually give us a boost when they go into a game,” continued Coach Johnson.

The Conquistadors need to win 50 percent of their regular season games to attend any regional playoffs. If they win at least three more games they will get an invitation to the Region 10 play-offs to be held in South Carolina.

1/18/2012
Alvin Satram scored a big bucket at the end of regulation to seal the victory for the Conquistadors (11-7) over Hillsborough Community College Hawks, on Tuesday January 17 in an away contest. Two starters, Srdjan Jankovic and Derrick Zio dominated with pressure defense to help keep the Hawks from expanding any leads that they had. Great bench support from Larry Rivers Jr., Ja’mil Jones, and Ladarius Barnes added to the defense toughness that was needed to keep the Hawks off balance. All night long the Conquistadors struggled on the boards and had their hands full with keeping the Hawks from getting second and third shots. “The Hawks are a big team and we had to battle on the boards,” said Coach Johnson “I told the guys at halftime, in the locker room, that it was going to come down to rebounding. We need to stop them from getting second shots opportunity,” Johnson concluded.

The Hawks had the ball with 35 seconds on the clock and decided to run the clock down and take the last shot. With seconds ticking off the clock they took the shot and missed and Jankovic rebounded the ball and called a timeout, with five seconds left on the clock. The Conquistadors inbound the ball to Satram who drove the length of the floor and hit the big bucket. “This was Satram’s second time this year hitting a big bucket at the end of a game, and I knew he needed to be in the game at that time” said Coach Johnson.

The Conquistadors next contest is on the road against Northwood JV, on January 23 and they return home on January 25 to face Florida State College.

1/10/2012
Alvin Satram scored a game high of 24 points, Srdjan Jankovic also, had a game high of 20 points, and Derrick Zio had a game high of 17 points in a home court victory over Oxford College of Emory University on Sunday, January 8.

The Conquistadors (9-6) continuing their winning streak with the win over Emory as their sixth victory in a roll. “The team continues to play hard together despite, missing key players from injuries, eligibility status and lay-offs” says Coach Johnson. “This team continues to show signs of a great team, but we have to come out and play every game as if it is our last game and not have a mental breakdown that we have had in our past few games. The togetherness as a team has helped us to overcome the tough teams that we faced during PHCC holiday shootout and our last opponents (Oxford Emory)” Coach Johnson concluded.

The Quistas have had great bench support from, Michael Wood, Scott Cargile, Ladarius Barnes, and Larry Rivers Jr. They have added to the Conquistadors fire power. “Each player has entered into a game with clear roles and they play their roles with a focus that has helped the team win ball games” says Coach Johnson.

The Conquistadors’ leaders are Brice Smith with 15.9 points per game, Kelby Robinson with 14.9 points per game, and Alvin Satram with 12.9 points per game.

1/3/2012
The Conquistadors (6-6) are on their longest winning streak under first-year head coach James E. Johnson and over the last four games are averaging 72.5 points per contest while holding opponents to just 60.5. In fact, as the Conquistadors’ momentum grows, so does their point total, as it has increased in each of the last four games.

The Conquistadors picked up their sixth win of the season on January 2, againist Onondaga College, 93-72. They have two impressive wins over division one opponents, State College of Florida 73-69, and St. Johns River State College 97-80, a team that beat them by 30 points in a home contest. The Conquistadors have three players averaging in double figures, led by Brice Smith, follow by Kelby Robinson, and Alvin Satrum. Derrick Zio is leading the Conquistadors in rebounding, averaging 11 boards per game.

Critical to the Conquistadors’ run over the last six games has been the changing of its defense which has held its opponents to low percent shooting from the floor and high turnovers.

“The team is really playing well together, it seems that the needed team chemistry has arrived sooner than later,” Said Coach Johnson, “and I am really proud of this team.”

12/12/2011
PHCC men’s basketball record is 4-6. They play again on December 16, away at St. Johns River Community College. PHCC has three players averaging in double figures: Kelby Robinson, Brice Smith and Alvin Satram, at 14 points per game. Derrick Zio, is leading in rebounds averaging 12 rebounds per game.

This past weekend, PHCC played in the Ocala Shootout tournament. The Quistas lost on Saturday in overtime to Indian River, (76-85 OT) and defeated State College of Central Florida (73-69).

12/10/2011
PHCC sophomore Brice Smith was named Days Inn Player of the Game for the Ocala Juco Shootout Tournament of December 10-11. The award was his first of the season. Smith scored 40 points, pulled down 16 rebounds, and had 7 assists during PHCC’s tournament appearance. The sophomore scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed 5 rebounds and 7 assists in the team’s victory over State College of Central Florida. Smith is the team’s leading scorer with an average of 15 points per game. The Quista basketball team hopes to keep their winning streak going with a January home open and the PHCC holiday tournament January 2-5.