Injury, Illness Continue to Plague MIA

Just when it seemed things couldn’t get any crazier for MIA Coach Jim Watt, they got a little crazier. The Rays were down three starters and hosting defending PCAC champion Donahue Catholic on Wednesday, December 13. The result was predictable: a one-sided 65-40 loss for the Rays.

While they’re young, the Rays (3-6) are a solid team when at full strength. The problem is they haven’t been anywhere near full strength for most of this season. 

“Things got a little worse because we had Nick Sadler out,” said Watt. “Nick got hurt in last night’s game. Maddox Mourning got hurt in last night’s game. So right now, we have three starters out. We’re just reeling a little bit, trying to get through to the break. Then we’ll see what happens next year.”

In addition to Sadler - the team’s leading scorer - and Mourning, the Rays were without point guard Jacob Watt and big man Jordan Rodden. Watt recently got bad news on his son Jacob’s wrist injury.

“He had an MRI,” Watt said. "They read the results today, and he's gonna be out for ten weeks from the time of injury, which will take him all the way to the end of the season. He was devastated today, as we all were. Just very disappointing in the Watt house."

Besides his ball handling ability and scoring, Jacob Watt leads the Rays aggressive defense.

“It's disappointing,” Watt said, "But at least it's not his senior year. We still have next year.”

One silver lining to Watt’s infirmary list is that his bench players are getting experience.

“My younger kids are stepping up,” Watt said. "They're doing good. They played a great game tonight. They really did. It's just that we were just outmanned and outmuscled. Mathis Fontes has been out with a bad back and he was sick. He’s on antibiotics right now. He was diagnosed with a sinus infection two days ago. So he was playing under the weather.”

Between injury and illness, Fontes, the Rays’ tallest player, has only been healthy for a couple of games so far this season. Another big man, Jordan Rodden was out with the flu against Donahue.

“I thought Veleon Nazarko’s defensive performance tonight was fantastic. Lincoln LaButte really stepped up. He played the top of our zone defense and did a great job. Hit some shots. Hopefully, he’s increasing his confidence for the second half of the season and for next year as well.”

Nazarko is a sophomore and LaButte a junior.

Against Donahue (8-1) it was Grayson Jones who turned in strong performances on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. The senior finished with 19 points. LaButte added eight for the Rays. Senior John Lewis scored six for the Rays.

On Tuesday, December 12, the Rays dropped a heartbreaker in overtime, 77-73, to a much improved Everglades City team. 

“They have had an influx of basketball players this year,” Watt said of Everglades City (4-2). “Their varsity team was surprising. They had a lot of run-outs. I feel like if we had all of our starters going, I feel like we would have run them. They shot free throws like, I mean, oh my goodness. They made like 14 out of 15 to get the game into overtime. It was crazy. It was impressive. They brought that game to overtime and beat us in overtime. And it was a tough loss."

The Rays took it on the chin on Friday, December 15, in an 84-55 loss to South Florida Christian (5-5).

The Rays get some much-needed rest over the Christmas break and hope to come back with most of their roster intact. Of course, they will be without Jacob Watt. They will also be without John Lewis, a starter, who graduates.

“We'll have two weeks to heal up,” Watt said, "and then we start back at it."