text: Anticipation. Carly Simon sang it in a '70s classic. The Northwestern and Gilbert boys basketball teams and their fans live it.
  A stormy weekend delays the rematch of the Berkshire League's top two teams from Saturday to Tuesday evening, 7:30 p.m., at Northwestern High School.
  Northwestern, the last undefeated team in the state (15-0), beat the Yellowjackets 80-68 a month ago at Gilbert. It was the first win over Gilbert (11-3; 11-2 Berkshire League) in the Highlander seniors' careers.
  The game stayed close through the first quarter. Then Northwestern downshifted to a 15-0 start to the second quarter. The period ended in a 32-15 total, the effective end of the game.
  "We pushed it back up when we needed to," said Northwestern coach Doug Sebach.
  The issue then and now, wasn't whether Gilbert can run with the ultra-fast Highlanders. It's whether they can stay under control when they do.
  "We can run with them, but they finish more," said Gilbert Coach Mark Douglass. "We still have kids learning to fit in."
  Three weeks later, in a 76-54 win against Thomaston, the Yellowjackets still worked on it. The Golden Bears led after the first period, thanks in part to good shooting by Thomaston, in part by a break-neck pace set by Gilbert in which they reached the basket first, but often wide with the shot.
  "We're still working on a lot of things," said Coach Douglass. "We need to slow it down sometimes."
  "Sometimes we go too fast for ourselves," said Gilbert star Robert Skinner.
  That's the lure Northwestern's speed throws out. The Highlanders play full-court in-your-face defense the entire game. It speeds up the tempo for teams trying to get past them in a hurry. Then, Northwestern cranks it up in the other direction, making it look easy with smooth finishes. It's the final hook on the lure.
  "We try to make teams play at our pace," said Coach Doug.
  There's no doubt about Gilbert's personnel, most recently shining in a 74-57 payback win at home last Tuesday against Terryville, the only other BL team to beat them.
  The key against Northwestern will be resisting the race.
  Northwestern, unblemished, simply needs to keep doing what they've been doing together since sixth grade. That's how they account for the sureness in their speed. They run at the same pace, certain of where their teammates are.
  Skinner, averaging 22.4 points a game for Gilbert, is responsible as leader and point guard for reining in the Yellowjackets when need be. Yoharky Sarmiento (15.8 points a game) and Luis Cordova (14.5 points a game) are tall, athletic guard/forwards who challenge inside and out with their size and athleticism.
  Yellowjacket Mark Collins will be the tallest body out there, doing his best to keep Northwestern battlers Mike Jeffko (6-feet-4) and James Phillips (6-feet-3) off the boards.
  Jeffko and Phillips, with 6-feet-5 backup Ed Bremer, are literally the front line (as in football) for the three-guard running backs to do their thing. Like Gilbert's Cordova and Sarmiento, John Stevens (18.3 points a game) and Conner Guiheen (17 points a game) are difficult match-ups because of their size (Stevens is a slim 6-3; Guiheen, a sturdy 6 feet) and athleticism, but also their control in blinding speed.
  Arthur Lefevre, the third guard, often holds the steering wheel at the point, then often gets hot outside.
  If the Yellowjackets keep their heads and a lid on the game, outside shooting becomes the x factor. Skinner is capable of joyous streaks of 3-pointers. So are all three Highlander guards.
  Both sides will penetrate with speed. Both sides will offer a snarling battleground underneath. The edge could come outside.
  First, though, the Yellowjackets have to find their pace.
  Thanks to the postponement, Gilbert plays back-to-back games.
  Monday, they play 12-5 University, a Class M magnet school that plays at SMSA in Hartford.
  "There are pluses and minuses," said Gilbert coach Douglas. "I told the kids to consider it a really good practice before a big game."
  It could also help the Yellowjackets rein it in at Northwestern Tuesday.
  URL: http://www.registercitizen.com/general-news/20130208/boys-basketball-gilbert-northwestern-set-for-showdown