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Preps

Bing pulls Packers through

LARGO -- The shadow was 6-foot-7 inches long, and Thursday night Trevor Bing jumped right out of it.

The smaller brother of two-time Pinellas County Player of the Year Erroyl Bing, the Largo junior did what Erroyl did better than anyone in Largo history -- he rebounded. Hauling in a St. Petersburg miss with 24 seconds left and then making both free throws after he was fouled, Bing pushed his Packers past the Green Devils 64-59 in a Class 5A, Region 3 quarterfinal.

Bing's free throws made the score 62-59, and a few seconds later his steal led to a pair from Mike O'Donnell that sealed the win.

But everyone was still talking about the rebound afterwards, a ferocious pulldown.

"As soon as I saw the shot go up, I just knew it was mine," said Bing after changing into pants and brother Erroyl's East Carolina jersey. "It was the biggest rebound of my life."

The game had 12 lead changes in the last three quarters, and was tied 53-all with 5:00 remaining. But Antwan Walker scored twice and O'Donnell (game-high 22 points) drove through the Green Devil defense for a 59-55 lead.

Deon Troupe (16 points) made a free throw, then scored off his own steal to pull the Green Devils (20-8) within a point. But when he had a chance to put his team in front a few seconds later, his miss was grabbed by Bing, and Largo (25-6) finished strong at the line.

-- JOHN C. COTEY

Pirates hold off PHU

GULFPORT -- Forget the late noise, Palm Harbor U.'s silence in the second quarter sealed its fate.

Boca Ciega did not quite breeze at home Thursday, but a 14-2 run before halftime provided enough of a cushion to ultimately survive 56-48.

The Pirates (20-9) will travel to No. 3 Fort Myers Tuesday for the region semifinal, as Fort Myers beat Punta Gorda Charlotte 62-42.

The two teams traded blows early in a half-court battle, but in the second quarter a combination of defensive pressure from Bogie and poor ballhanding by PHU allowed the home team to put together a deciding run. While the Pirates went from 12-8 to a 26-10 lead in seven minutes, the Hurricanes turned the ball over five times and put up only four shots.

"We controlled it the way we wanted to control it," Boca Ciega coach Randy Shuman said.

PHU (16-13) put together two small rallies in the fourth quarter to get to within single digits and keep its crowd interested, and the Pirates helped by missing 13 free throws in the quarter.

Bogie's Marquel Brooks scored 17 points to lead all scorers, while PHU's Nick Francis (14 points), Ryan Cowens (11) and Garrett Tyler (11) reached double figures in their last prep game.

-- JOHN SCHWARB

Spartans take charge

ST. PETERSBURG -- Lakewood advanced with an 88-67 win over Estero.

Sean Morrison and Brian Ligon combined to score 28 to lead a balanced Spartans attack. All but one Lakewood player scored.

"Having a lot of returning players is going to help us down the stretch," Ligon said, looking ahead to the region semifinals.

Ligon had his hands full on defense trying to contain Wildcats center Mican Rucker. Rucker scored 32, but it wasn't enough to overcome a shaky start by the Wildcats. The Spartans led by as much as 26 points in the first half.

"We're not used to an environment like this," Estero coach Norm Heyboer said. "We're kind of used to competition but we have not played anyone all year that was as quick as this."

Lakewood began using a two-man press in the second quarter to force six of the Wildcat's 14 first-half turnovers.

"Our quickness was obviously the difference," Spartan coach Dan Wright said. "We normally come out one of two ways, with a one front press or a two front."

Lakewood will host Lakeland Kathleen in Tuesday's region semifinal.

-- ROVEN YAU

Radosevich lifts Barons

ST. PETERSBURG -- Chad Radosevich led St. Petersburg Catholic with 30 points, including 25 points and seven 3-pointers in the first half, as the Barons crushed Tampa Prep 86-49.

Aaron Holmes added 24 points and Billy Tapp had 12 for the Barons. David Smith led Tampa Prep with 20 points and Karl Richards added 13.

St. Petersburg Catholic coach Mike Moran felt good about the win for more than the obvious reasons.

"Chad has rounded into a complete player as the season wore on," he said. "It's the best perimeter performance we've had all season and it came at the best time. That is exactly what has to happen again for us against Florida Air Academy. They are huge inside, 6-11, 6-5, so our perimeter guys have to play like they did tonight."

The 20-8 Barons will likely host undefeated Florida Air Academy on Tuesday. Tampa Prep finished 15-15.

-- STEVE FOLEY

Farragut wins in rout

ST. PETERSBURG -- Admiral Farragut made quick work of visiting Moore Haven. The Blue Jackets won their 20th straight game, 84-47.

John Whitehead's four 3-pointers early in the game allowed the Blue Jackets to lead by nearly 20 points following the first quarter.

While Moore Haven managed to triple its point production in the second quarter, the Blue Jackets, leading 23-5 going into the second, did not slow down. Admiral Farragut scored 21 points to lead 44-20 at halftime.

Admiral Farragut kept up the high-scoring pace adding another 23 points in the third quarter.

The Blue Jackets failed to get 20 points in the fourth quarter, but managed to keep Moore Haven to nine.

Benny Clyde stepped up in the second half, scoring 10 points. By the final quarter, Admiral Farragut had all reserves on the court.

While playing only three quarters, Whitehead led all scorers with 19 points, and Vitor Boccardo and Tommy Lampley each added 13 points. Lewis Lampley had 10 assists to lead the Blue Jackets. Admiral Farragut hit 10 3-pointers in the game, Whitehead shooting half.

Morenzo Pleas was the offensive leader for the Terriers. Pleas scored 18 points to lead all Moore Haven scorers, and added two spectacular dunks. "We felt after the first quarter, the game was ours for the taking," Admiral Farragut coach Mike Wells said. "We knew that if we had a good first quarter, we could put them away quickly. They (Moore Haven) are a very athletic team."

-- CHARLES CARDWELL

Oldsmar cruises

OLDSMAR -- Two minutes after he left the game with a slight ankle sprain, Ryan Pannone was out on the court jumping and celebrating Oldsmar Christian's 69-46 win over New Dimensions of Kissimmee.

"It's Ryan, you know," Eagles coach Gary Tait said after Oldsmar's first regional tournament victory. "What can I say about him; he'll be fine."

Pannone scored 12 and shared defensive duties on one of Class A's most potent offensive players in Mike Presendieu. Pannone and Bobby Bache held the versatile threat to 16 points, the first time Presendieu has had fewer than 20 in a month.

"We've been living and dying by Mike," Tigers coach Chris Frost said. "But tonight we just got beat in every phase of the game. The scouting report I got from other coaches was good but didn't do Oldsmar any justice. That is a solid ballclub."

Trevor Ferguson scored a game-high 28, 18 in the second half. New Dimensions trailed by eight early but tied it at 34 midway through the third quarter. Ferguson then scored 10 straight and the rout was on in the fourth quarter.

-- ERIC MUSKATEVC

Mustangs slip late

NAPLES -- After a quarter, Northside Christian led 11-0. And Naples St. John Neumann never led until there were only four minutes left in the game. But what matters is the score at the final buzzer, and the home club put on a late burst to win in dramatic fashion 65-62.

Neumann (22-10) took its first lead at 51-49 on senior guard Mike Szwed's jumper. Solid free throw shooting and timely defense the rest of the way allowed the Celtics to hold on for the win. Szwed, who had a game-high 21 points, Eric Bratt and Andrew Sanford hit some clutch shots from the charity stripe to hold off Northside.

The Mustangs (24-8) may have thought they were on their way after the first quarter, when they held an 11-0 lead. It was the first time all season Neumann had been shut out in any quarter.

Sophomore Zach Sidlovsky, playing with a separated shoulder, poured in 16 points and started the Celtics comeback with a couple of big baskets in the second quarter to whittle Northside's lead down to 16-14 with 3:43 left in the half.

But the Mustangs went on went on a 15-6 run keyed by the shooting of senior Lance Skipper to take that same 11-point lead into intermission at 31-20. "Coach just said everything he's been saying all year," said Sidlovsky, who had to have his shoulder popped back into place in the closing seconds. "We've been in five games where we've been down by more than 11, maybe 16 or 20 points, and it's hard to shut us out of a game. We're so good at having streaks and we come back. We have love for each other and we just know we can get the job done. We're not done yet."

Northside Christian had the better outside shooters and when the Mustangs went to a pressure defense they were able to force turnovers and convert them into baskets. But Skipper, who finished with 20 points, didn't get much scoring support, with Mark Kelley (12 points) and Scott McClain (11) the only other players in double figures.

"What them over the top the whole game was that we didn't knock down wide open shots," Northside coach Chip McAllister said. "We had wide open shots all night long against their triangle-and-two and we didn't knock any down. In the second half we stopped playing defense, we let them dump the ball inside wherever they wanted and that killed us."

Neumann's big men took advantage of those passes down low, especially in the fourth quarter. Senior Constantin Wirschke (6-foot-5) scored six of his eight points in the final eight minutes and 6-3 senior forward Chris Wilk finished with 12 points, six in the first half and four in the closing minutes.

-- NAPLES DAILY NEWS

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