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Girls basketball district tournaments

By ANTHONY GAGLIANO, ROD GIPSON and ERIC VICIAN
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 8, 2002

Woodard lifts Bulls in final seconds

RIVERVIEW -- Trailing 59-58 with 10 seconds left, Bloomingdale's Ariel Lyons drove the length of the court and lofted the ball to Erica Woodard, who spun to the basket and laid the ball in to give the Bulls a 60-59 victory over Sarasota Riverview in Thursday's district semifinal.

The victory moves Bloomingdale (17-7) into Saturday'sfinal where it will meet top-seed Sarasota. It was the Bulls' second come-from-behind victory over the Rams (22-7) in two weeks.

After Riverview had gone on a 7-2 run in the first 1:14 of the second half Thursday to claim an eight-point lead, the Bulls turned to Chandra Hargus. At one point, Hargus had 10 straight for Bloomingdale as the Bulls used an 8-0 run to grab a 45-43 lead with 6:40 to go.

The Rams grabbed the lead with a pair of steals for layups. The second, by Kelley Benjamin, gave Riverview a three-point margin, 57-54 with under a minute to play.

Following a Rams lay-in, Amanda Coleman raced to the other end with a layup to bring the Bulls to within one at 59-58 with 17 seconds remaining. The Bulls then fouled Reesa Bland, who missed the first end of the one-and-one to set the scene for the Bulls' heroics.

The first semifinal saw Sarasota, the No. 2 girls team in the state, take full advantage of Gaither's 25 turnovers as the Sailors trounced the Cowboys 74-59.

Leading 12-9 in the first quarter, the Sailors (23-4) went on an 11-0 run, aided in large part by Gaither turning the ball over on five consecutive possessions.

From there, the Sailors put the ball in the hands of Shelby Weber and Sarah Lancaster as the lead grew to as many as 30 at one point.

Weber was the high scorer with 20 on the night even though she was hampered with foul trouble in the second half. Lancaster was just off her pace, leading numerous Sarasota fast breaks enroute to 19 points.

Sarasota and Bloomingdale have met twice this season, with the Sailors claiming both games by at least 20 points.

Dupree paces Wharton

TAMPA -- Wharton opened the second half with a 15-2 run and got 33 points from senior center Candice Dupree to defeat host Chamberlain 67-42.

The win lifts Wharton (21-4) into the district championship game where it will face King Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. The Lions (10-9) beat Leto 53-48 in the other semifinal.

The Wildcats opened the game sluggishly, falling behind early by four points. But that was before Wharton, and Dupree, heated up. Dupree, who missed her first four free throws and two shots, scored 19 points in the first half, including a three-pointer as the half ended.

Leading 34-22 at the half, the Wildcats outscored the Chiefs 26-7 in the third period to take control. Dupree added 15 rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals.

In the other semifinal, the Lions defense limited the Falcons (12-15) to just four points in the third period. Down by 16 in the last period, the Falcons rallied to get within six with less than two minutes remaining but couldn't get any closer.

AHN upsets Tampa Prep

TAMPA -- Jeff Pafunda kept referring to it as "something out of Hoosiers."

It was the only way the Academy of the Holy Names coach could describe the way his third-seeded Jaguars knocked off No. 2 seed Tampa Prep 59-47. Academy found out earlier in the day it would be without its lone senior, Danielle Darby, for the rest of the season. Darby will finish her career with 1,765 points after tearing an anterior-cruciate ligament.

The Jaguars lost both regular-season games to Tampa Prep (16-11) with Darby on the floor.

Kelly Glover, who forced Pafunda to cut Wednesday's practice short when she sprained her ankle, provided the spark. She boosted the Jaguars to an early lead with eight of her 15 points in the first quarter.

The Jaguars defense held Tampa Prep senior standout Amber Langston to four points in her final game.

A pair of Langston free throws brought the Terrapins to within 42-41 with 4 minutes, 30 seconds left in the game. But that was as close as they would get.

Jessica Buscia, Krista Sinardi and Ashley Crane combined to steal passes on the next four Terrapins possessions.

From there, the Jaguars (18-13) won the game from the free-throw line. Academy, a 53-percent free-throw shooting team, converted 16 of 20 in the fourth quarter, including 7 of 8 from Laurenleigh Guagliardo.

"That's unbelievable," Pafunda said. "I'm shocked. Everyone was completely focused."

Academy will host top-seeded Berkeley Prep on Saturday for the title. The Buccaneers got 37 points from Christina Gladysz in a 74-49 victory against Frostproof in Thursday's other semifinal.

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