Lakewood falls in the region final, this time to Bradenton Southeast.
By JOHN C. COTEY
Published March 7, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - Like it had successfully done in its Pinellas County Athletic Conference championship game victory over Clearwater, Lakewood could have pulled the ball out and stalled rather than going up against a zone defense.
But there was one important thing missing this time around.
The lead.
Controlled from the outset by a smaller Bradenton Southeast team it had beaten three times this season, Lakewood was stunned by the Seminoles 66-54 at Eckerd College, losing the region final for the second straight season.
In front of 1,400 fans (another 50 were turned away), the No. 2 Spartans (28-2) only led twice, by two points each time.
Against Clearwater, Lakewood grabbed an early lead and was able to burn 15 minutes off the clock before the Tornadoes had no choice but to play man-to-man.
Saturday, Southeast abandoned its press and man-to-man defense for a more deliberate style and a 2-3 zone defense it never wavered from, because it didn't have to.
That led to fewer turnovers - the Seminoles averaged 23 in the three previous losses - and kept Lakewood from getting into an offensive rhythm.
"We stuck to the gameplan," Southeast coach Elliot Washington said. "We wanted to come out and limit their chances. Their second and third chances killed us all three times we played them."
The Spartans had second and third chances, but couldn't convert them. When they got turnovers, they would come down the court and throw the ball away.
Southeast forced Lakewood to take more outside shots that it wanted to, and the Spartans missed a majority of them. A notoriously poor free-throw shooting team, Lakewood made just 3-of-16; Southeast shot 14-for-17.
"They played well and we didn't," Lakewood coach Dan Wright said. "Every time we had did something to put us back in position, we just couldn't hit a shot. Southeast did a really good job defensively. Their 2-3 zone was really effective against us."
Lakewood led last at 21-19 with four minutes left in the first half. Southeast went on a 13-2 run to close out the half.
Early in the fourth, Lakewood got within 47-46, but Southeast guard Lamont Houston drilled a 3-pointer with 5:50 left, and Davis got an easy layup to make it 52-46. Lakewood got no closer than four points the rest of the way.
