Gateway Confernece Championship

After losing to Ribault 30 days prior to tonight's match up, we knew we were in for a fight. In the early phases of the game we dominated every statistical category as we built a 25 point halftime lead. After halftime we continued to be aggressive, but turnovers and sloppy offensive execution proved to be costly. Ribault went on a 12-0 run to start the 4th quarter which trimmed our lead to 7 points with 6 minutes left to play in regulation. First Coast eventually settled down and started trading baskets with the Trojans up until about the 1 minute mark when Ribault hit a 3 pointer to tie the ballgame with 24 seconds left. After using one of our timeouts Ambrose Mosley hit what we all felt was the game winning 3 pointer with 9 seconds left on the clock. Ribault burned their last timeout to draw up a play that led to the 3 point attempt by Chandler who was fouled in the process. Chandler hit all 3 foul shots to force overtime. In the extra period we had our chances but turnovers and missed opportunities led to our short coming on this night. This was a tough one to swallow but in every dark cloud there is a silver lining. Stay positive and let's come out fighting against the Lee Generals tomorrow.

3rd Round of Gateway Conference Tournament

First Coast displayed the heart of a champion last night against Lee High School. We dominated the paint, controlled the tempo of the game, limited their second chance shots and most of all we played outstanding defense. Eric Beverly and Ambrose Mosley led the charge defensively to keep Lee's guards in check all night, while Tavaris Barnes scored a game high of 24 points. The effort by the rest of the Buccaneers was electric I mean everyone was up cheering and rooting their teammates on. Once again defense proved to be the difference in such a close game. The game was tied with 12 seconds left on the clock as Lee tried to inbound the ball under our basket. Everyone was covered so they tried to pass the ball in at half-court and out of nowhere came Danny Alston who showed his wide receiver skills by out jumping Lee's player for the ball. Danny then passed it off to David Williams for the fast break, which he eventually missed but was followed up by a tip from Ambrose Mosley to put the Bucs up by 2 points for good. Final score First Coast 59 and Lee 57. As I stated earlier these young men never gave up and found a way to win and we are proud to say congratulations and good luck tomorrow as we play the Ribault Trojans for the Gateway Conference Championship.

2nd Round of Gateway Conference Tournament

Tuesday night's game against Englewood was everything we thought it was going to be. The Rams came out excited and ready to play, but the Bucs were just as excited to be in the position we were in. At home an being seeded #2 in the Conference tournament we were not going to be denied. First Coast dominated the game with tough physical play on the inside by Tavaris Barnes and good outside shooting by Danny Alston and Ambrose Mosley. The Rams tried to overcome the relentlessness of the Buccaneers but we were just to much for the young Rams of Englewood. Congratulations Bucs and good luck on Thursday as they compete against the Lee Generals. Come on out and show your support.

Gateway Conference Tournament

The first round was held on Monday, January 25, with Terry Parker defeating Ed White and Wolfson defeating Sandalwood, both games were held @ Sandalwood. Jackson defeated Paxon and Englewood defeated Mandarin (by 1 point) both games were held @ Jackson. First round byes were given to Ribalut #1 seed, First Coast #2 seed, Lee #3 seed, and Raines #4 seed. On Tuesday, January 26th Ribault will play Terry Parker @ 7"30 and Raines will play Wolfson @ 6:00 both games will be played at Ribault High. Lee will play Jackson @ 6:00 and First Coast will play Englewood @ 7:30, both games will be played at First Coast. Whatever team wins out of this round will advance to the semi-finals on Thursday, January 28th being held at FSCJ South Campus. The first game is at 6:00 and second game at 7:30. Whomever wins on Thursday night will advance to the Finals on Friday, January 29th, @ 7:00pm again being held at FSCJ South campus. Hope to see you there. Thank you all for your continued support.

Coaches Comments-Lakeland High School Game

We made this team look better than they really were. Our boys need to play better "mental" basketball. The players coming in off the bench (Beverly, Holsey, Poole, Cooper and Barnes) are starting to be more reliable, which will make substitutions going into the Gateway Conference more effective. Barnes has been a real asset on the boards with the loss of Cornelius Johnson (knee injury) during the Orange Park game on Friday night.

Coaches Comments-Orange Park Game 1/22/10

Our boys have a tendency of making the "easy" games look hard, and tonight's match up against the Orange Park Raiders was no different. We went into halftime with only a 4 point lead. The shots were not falling as we are used to and after losing Cornelius Johnson (knee injury) in the 1st half, we really needed someone to step up under the basket. Tavaris Barnes was able to fill the role and we won by 17 points. This closed out our District schedule with a record of 8-0. Now we have to get ready for Lakeland High School on Saturday at 7:00 @ Jackson High School.

Coaches Comments-Creekside

This game was a tale of two halves. The first produced a Buccaneer team that looked out of sync. Our defense was sloppy, and the turnovers we committed allowed Creekside easy baskets. At halftime the score was only 20-21 First Coast. In the second half the Bucs finally showed up along with our defense. We held them to just 9 points in the entire second half. We pulled away and won by 20 points. Our record is now 13-2, with our District record being 7-0. We play away on Friday, January 22nd which is our last District game against the Orange Park Raiders. Then on Saturday, the 23rd we play Lakeland High School at 7:00pm @ Andrew Jackson. Please come out and support these awesome Buccaneer basketball players.

Coaches Comments-Miami Carroll City

On Saturday, January 16th at Ribault gym First Coast squared off against Carroll City from Miami. This team gave us a little trouble in the first half with their speed and aggressive play. We responded by matching their intensity and sticking to our game plan. All in all this was a big win for us because we seem to struggle with quick physical teams. Tonight we didn't shoot as well but our defense has been steady which allowed us to create leads and put us in the drivers seat. This was a statement WIN over a state ranked team. Come on out on Monday as we compete against Creeekside at FSCJ at 3:00. GO BUS!!!

Coaches Comments-Orange Park Game

First Coast seems to be peeking at the right time, with only two games left in the regular season. Tonight they face an Orange Park team that has nothing to lose and everything to gain if they can pull-off an upset on the Bucs home court. As expected the Raiders came out with a lot of intensity which eventually faded away as the game went on. The Bucs went to work early for a change, by taking advantage of the mismatch on the low box with Tavaris Barnes and Cornelius Johnson. Once our big men got going the doors opened up for our perimeter players. In the second half we were able to rest the starters significantly allowing our second and third group an opportunity to close out the game. These players have been playing well for us all year and they do whatever we ask of them. Defensively they allow us to do a lot of different things that would otherwise be impossible without such depth. Keep up the good work guys and congratulations on wrapping up first place in the District.

Reference to Max Preps

Don't forget players, fans, and parents you can go to maxpreps.com to see all the scores and statistics of all the games we have played so far. I have an attachment on this page all you have to do is click on it. Have fun we hope you are all enjoying the blog.

Coach's Comments about the Fletcher Senators January 12, 2010

Facing yet another District foe on Tuesday night the "Bucs" seemed to be in full swing. The defense picked up where it left off against Mandarin allowing only 3 points in the first quarter and 4 points in the second. Offensively the "Bucs" are shooting the ball well led by Janeil Jenkins, Danny Alston, Ambrose Mosley, and David Williams. These four combined for 45 of the Buccaneers 61 points. First Coast cruised to a 27 point victory which allowed them to remain undefeated in District competition.

Krispy Kreme Doughnut Fundraising Event-Again

Hello Players, Parents and First Coast Fans,

We did so well before the holidays selling the boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts we are doing it again. But this time we want to break the record for selling the most boxes of doughnuts in Duval County. I spoke with the manager today of Krispy Kreme and she stated the record is 600 boxes held by an elementary school. Wow, that sounds like a lot but if we sell at lunch times at school, put up posters, put flyer's on cars at the River City, Winn Dixie, Publix, etc. I know we can do this. Also if anyone knows someone at any of the radio stations we would love to give a shout out about breaking this record. We really need every one's help to make this goal happen. We will be using all the monies we have earned so far to buy new uniforms, Letterman jackets, awards for the banquet, and anything else we so desire if we make this happen. Please email me at simsk@duvalschools.org if you know of any company or organization that would be willing to help us in this endeavor. Thank you for all your support and help you have showed to these fine young men throughout this season.

Coaches Comments about Mandarin game Monday January 11th, 2010

On Monday night at home we played a District game against Mandarin. The Bucs knew they had to have a WIN after the disappointing loss to Niceville over the weekend. In the second quarter Mandarin stepped up play and found some discrepancies in our defense to keep the game close. But after a few adjustments at halftime the "Bucs" were off and running. They came out red hot knocking down 3 consecutive 3 pointers to gain momentum resulting in a Mandarin timeout. After the timeout First Coast's defense came to life forcing several turnovers to increase their lead to 16. Mandarin made a push early in the fourth quarter but our defense dominated and held on for the victory.

Home Game vs Mandarin

Wow, what a fantastic game against the Mandarin Mustangs. The score was close at halftime we were only leading by 6 points. We came out of the locker room fired up, looked like Coach Showers had given the boys a pretty impressive half time talk. The Bucs ended the game to a score of 81-54 with every player making a contribution to this victory. We had unselfish passes, great defense, and a lot more communication on the floor than I have seen in the past. We still have some items to work on but we are looking forward to another District game tonight against Fletcher. We hope to see you there, if not we look forward to seeing you on Friday, January 15 when we play Orange Park at home.

Welcome to First Coast Basketball

Welcome to our site. We are very excited for the 2009-2010 season. We look forward to your support thoughout the season and hope you will continue to come to the blog for future updates. We hope to have pictures of games, videos, and if you need to send comments for other types of information you might need please don't hesitate to blog.