CLEARWATER - Bring 'em on, the best the nation has to offer. Clearwater is ready for them.
The Tornadoes hope so, anyway.
Clearwater (6-0) withstood a slow-paced offense by Riverview, then used a 17-3 start in the third quarter on their way to 54-42 triumph in the final game of the Bright House Shootout. On Monday, Clearwater will be one of 48 teams (only four from Florida) in the Disney World Tournament in Orlando.
"It was a slow-down game," Clearwater coach Jack Coit said. "They held the ball on us. I thought we played better in the second half, but it was a low possession type of game which made each one count.
"I was pleased with the way we hung in there and played defense, sometimes for 30 or 40 seconds in a stretch."
In the second quarter, Nathan Loucks came off the bench to score 11 of his team's 13 points, and in the third Trevor Lee pounded the offensive boards to account for nine of his team-best 14 points as Clearwater stretched a 23-18 leas at halftime to 40-24 after three quarters.
Three of the four Pinellas County teams in the Bright House Shootout went 2-0.
Dunedin (2-4), winless coming in, connected on 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to edge Alonso 52-47. East Lake (4-1) cruised to a 59-44 victory over Wharton (5-2). Gaither used a 27-point effort by Chris Bonner - 17 in the first half - to beat Palm Harbor University 60-41.
