Pinellas sweeps county all-stars

The Hillsborough County boys rally in the second half, but fall 115-109, while a slow start buries the girls 84-72.

By JEREMY WRITT
Published April 10, 2005

ST PETERSBURG - The Hillsborough County all-stars outscored their Pinellas counterparts by eight points in the second half, erasing a 58-44 half-time deficit, but could not complete the comeback. The Hillsborough boys expended too much energy fighting their way back into the game and had nothing left at the end, falling 115-109 at Eckerd College.

Hillsborough had three players score 20 or more.

Johnathan Ball (Alonso) led all scorers with 25 points. Brandon's Zaronn Cann, Jamal Thompson and Aubrey Brown had a huge second half, powering Hillsborough's charge.

"We had to get focused," Brown said. "We got a few stops and pulled it in. We were winning for a little bit."

Cann scored 12 of his 21 despite playing against Clearwater star Cruz Daniels. Daniels, a 6-foot-10 shot-blocking machine, redirected four field-goal attempts but could do little else against the stronger Cann.

Brown, who seemed to be a different player after winning the halftime dunk contest, poured in 15 of his 20 points in the second half.

Thompson finished with 16 points including a 14-point second half.

The Hillsborough girls also fell short, losing 84-72 because of a sluggish start.

They trailed 13-6 after Clearwater's Rachel Hammond, the Times' Pinellas County player of the year, drained a 3-pointer.

Before that shot, Pinellas feasted on easy layups thanks to Hillsborough's lackadaisical transition defense.

Jessica Piggott (Wharton) and Sabrina Schmidt (Hillsborough) kept the game from being a blowout.

Schmidt (22 points) was the game's leading scorer.

"The girls were just giving me good outlet passes," Piggott said. "I had open looks and I guess they just went in."

Piggott finished with 20 points, scoring from inside and out.

But Pinellas County's Clearwater connection proved to be too much for their neighbors to the north.

Hammond led all Pinellas scorers with 19 points. Teammate Danielle Kostacky (17 points) was second.

Indian Rocks Christian's Gabby Gattuso (15 points) and Seminole's Alli Fogle (14 points) also scored in double figures.

[Last modified April 10, 2005, 00:40:18]