Sickles has Sun Dome workout

Posted Mar 1, 2010 by Joey Johnston

Updated Mar 1, 2010 at 11:26 PM

The Sickles Gryphons, trying to acclimate themselves to a larger arena, had a 90-minute practice Monday afternoon at the University of South Florida Sun Dome.

Sickles (28-2) faces Niceville (29-3) in the Class 5A boys basketball state semifinals on Wednesday afternoon at the Lakeland Center.

“It gives them a little sense of the depth perception, since there’s a big open area behind the basket, instead of a wall, like there normally is at a high-school gym,’’ Sickles coach Renaldo Garcia said. “We’re here today and we’ll be back (Tuesday). I think that will give us a good sense of how it feels.’‘

Garcia said he already has a sense of the excitement coming from Sickles’ campus. There are plans for spirit buses to the tournament, meaning a slightly earlier dismissal for the Lakeland-bound students. Tipoff for Sickles-Niceville is 4 p.m.

“It was kind of a different day at school,’’ Garcia said. “I was in the gym at 7:25 a.m. for my team sports class and the gym was still kind of trashed from Saturday night (when Sickles beat Clearwater 48-46 in the region final).

“It’s hard to get the kids moving that early. They usually don’t want to dress out or do too much. So I started cleaning out some of the aisles of bleachers. When I turned around, I saw about 20 kids helping me. I thought, ‘Wow, this is getting kind of overwhelming. Everybody is behind us now.’ I just want us to keep playing well and live in the moment. We can definitely feel the support and that means a lot.’‘