CLEARWATER - A big game for a big sophomore became a big problem for visiting King in their 68-35 loss to Bright House Shootout host Clearwater and 6-foot-10 Cruz Daniels.
Daniels blocked seven shots and grabbed 12 rebounds to go with his eight points, and the Tornadoes remain undefeated at 6-0.
"I'm hoping it is," said Clearwater coach Jack Coit of Daniels having a breakout game. "He takes away so much of the paint."
The Tornadoes took an 11-2 lead in the first seven minutes of the first quarter, which ended fittingly with a Daniels blocked shot.
"He made it a little difficult tonight for us," King coach Sam Lanier said. "I saw him over the summer. He has a lot of potential."
Luke Postorino added 11 points, five steals and four assists. Darius Hart (12 points) and Trevor Lee (11) also chipped in.
"It's better not to depend on one guy all the time. We feel it's harder to defend a team that you don't know how or who to guard," said Coit.
Ridgewood supplied the only other blowout in its 58-29 rout over Alonso. Andrew Reed scored a tournament-high 18 points and the Rams improved to 4-1 on the season as one of Pasco County's top teams.
Dunedin and Palm Harbor U. also kept out-of-county contenders from a Friday night win, but their games were close. Dunedin (3-3) upset previously undefeated Wharton (6-1) 53-52 in the opening game and PHU (2-2) defeated Gaither 49-48.
Dunedin and PHU held last-minute leads and both survived last-second shots. Justin Glen led the Falcons with 15 points including two three-pointers in the fourth quarter in a game tied at 38 tie after three quarters.
A.J. Tyler led the Hurricanes with 16 points but it was teammate Chad Fuller's eight points in the fourth quarter that kept Gaither at bay. Fuller finished with 14 points.
The Shootout this year is not a tournament, but two days with eight games and each team plays one game a day. Coaches agreed with the new FHSAA rule reducing the total number of games a team is allowed to play, so a shootout format (without a final) fits holiday tournaments best and still leaves time for competitive games.
"At some point we'd have to come play here or away from home," said Lanier, who also said Hillsborough teams often travel far outside the county for district and playoff games. "We don't want to let a chance to play good basketball go by. It can only make us stronger."
