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Girls basketball district tournaments

By FRANK PASTOR, JAMAL THALJI, KEITH NIEBUHR and WAYNE GRUMET
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 8, 2002

Panthers deny Bears once more

LECANTO -- Senior forward Kate Wheeler scored five of her 15 points in the final 1 minute, 31 seconds, lifting third-seeded Lecanto to a 50-48 victory against No. 2 Central in a district semifinal.

The Panthers (9-19) advanced to Saturday's 7:30 p.m. final and secured their ninth regional tournament appearance in coach Ron Allan's 13 seasons.

Wheeler's second of consecutive putbacks gave Lecanto a one-point lead with 51 seconds remaining. She made one of two foul shots with 4.3 seconds left, then held her breath as Central's Tamara Tatham missed a 3-pointer wide right as time expired.

"I would have died if that had gone in," Wheeler said.

For the second consecutive year, Lecanto denied Central (17-8) the chance to qualify for the regional tournament for the first time in Lori Lessley's seven seasons as a coach or at the school.

"We felt the ability was there; we just had to take care of Lecanto," Lessley said. "But it's been hard for us."

Top-seeded Leesburg (20-2) thumped No. 4 Springstead (6-16) 71-38 in the other semifinal, avenging a five-point loss two weeks ago. Jasmine Patterson (27 points) and Keasha Graham (17), who didn't play in the previous game, scored 44 points for Leesburg.

Mustangs, Rams to meet

Those two teams will compete for the title Saturday night after top-seeded Ridgewood rolled by No. 5 seed Hudson 59-36 and No. 3 seed Mitchell surprised No. 2 seed Land O'Lakes 54-47 in Thursday's semifinals

The Mustangs split with the Gators in the regular season, but lost the second contest by 26 points. Mitchell bided its time waiting for districts, unveiling new offensive sets that stymied Land O'Lakes.

"We were up by just three at the half and we've got six seniors, so I got on them in the locker room," Mustangs coach Steve Knobl said. "I told them they were 16 minutes away from advancing or playing the last game of their careers."

Moira Gustin led Mitchell (20-7) with 21 points, Tiffany Bronson had 12 and Angela Dodd chipped in 10. Land O'Lakes (20-5) was led by Roshaunda Washington's 15 and Alison Foster's 11.

Host Ridgewood (23-5) had no trouble with Hudson (11-12) in the late game. Even with point guard Crystal Ayers on the bench with three fouls early in the first quarter, the Rams ran to a 33-14 halftime lead.

Ayers returned to score 12 second-half points and 16 overall.

Lauren Bislick led the Cobras with 15.

Hurricanes wear down

INVERNESS -- Tired legs might have cost host Citrus a playoff berth.

The third-seeded Hurricanes, down to seven players because of illness and injuries, were outscored by 13 in the second half and lost to second-seeded Williston in the semifinals 39-34. Citrus (16-8) led 20-12 at the half and 22-12 four minutes into the third quarter before the Red Devils (19-7) finally started making their shots.

"Our girls played hard, but they ran out of steam," Hurricanes coach Bruce Nelson said.

Williston improved to 3-0 against Citrus this season.

In the first meeting, also at Citrus, the Red Devils rallied from nine points down in regulation to win in overtime. This time, the run was keyed by guard Dominique Coleman, who finished with 17 points, 12 in the second half.

The Red Devils won despite having three scoring droughts of three minutes or longer.

In the other semifinal, top-seeded Hernando shook off a cold-shooting start to win easily against fourth-seeded Ocala West Port 66-46. Center Bernice Mosby led all players with 27 points.

"I'm happy to be in the finals, but we didn't play well," Hernando coach Pete Lahey said. "At times, we let their pressure get to us."

Hernando led 33-25 midway through the third quarter before going on a 12-0 run, which was sparked by eight points from Mosby. Saturday night's final begins at 7:30.

Bulldogs pester Pirates

WESLEY CHAPEL -- Zephyrhills' defense frustrated Pasco throughout Thursday's semifinal, giving the Bulldogs a chance to pull away in the fourth quarter for a 43-37 win.

Zephyrhills (9-18) will face top-seeded Bartow in the final Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Bartow (19-9) remained undefeated in district play by hammering Mulberry 72-38.

Zephyrhills used a 7-2 run in a four-minute span in the fourth quarter to open up a 39-32 lead. Pasco (10-13) was held scoreless for more than half of the final quarter.

The Bulldogs forced 27 Pasco turnovers and held the Pirates to 29 percent shooting from the field.

"We knew that we got hurt the last time we played them by dribble penetration. Their guards dominated us," Zephyrhills coach Jerry Stacy said. "We knew coming in we'd have to deny the dribble penetration and win the battle of the boards. I thought we did that pretty well."

Zephyrhills out-rebounded Pasco 37-26, led by senior Jessica Clancy's 15 boards. Clancy added 12 points, four assists and four steals. Chemeka Amos led the Bulldogs with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Pasco's sophomore guard duo of Alicia Badger and Ashley Davis was stymied throughout. Davis had 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting. Badger had nine points but took just six shots.

"They weren't ready to play tonight. I must have done a poor job of preparing them," Pasco coach Tony Vasquez said. "When the girls win, the girls win. When they lose, it's the coach's fault. It must have been my fault."

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