Home spark ends for Spartans

By EMERY SKOLFIELD
Published December 16, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Lakewood coach Dan Wright said he was pleased with the effort and wished only that it hadn't ended in a loss. He downplayed the end of a streak that started nearly three years ago and twice mentioned his team's youth.

For the first time since Jan. 31, 2003, the Spartans lost in their inhospitable home gymnasium, adding an asterisk to Lakewood's 58-57 loss to nondistrict foe Sarasota Booker on Thursday night.

"The streaks don't mean anything," said Wright, whose team's previous home loss came by one point to St. Petersburg. "We have a young team, and it was evident. We had every opportunity in the world to win at the end of the game."

Booker (5-0), which beat Lakewood 93-84 in last year's district final before the Spartans' Class 4A title run, had multiple chances to put the game away late, but failed repeatedly, missing 5-of-6 free throws in the final 30 seconds.

Lakewood (6-1), ranked No. 2 in Class 5A, didn't fare any better. After turning the ball over and missing an open 3 on the two previous possessions, sophomore Sean Johnson missed a free throw that would have tied it with 1.8 seconds left.

With 1.5 seconds left, the Tornadoes' John Jones missed two at the line, and Lakewood's final shot was a full-court heave by Dominique Peoples that sailed out of bounds.

Booker junior Gary Clark, a 6-foot-4 guard who has committed to Florida, scored 19. The Tornadoes, ranked seventh in Class 4A, hit six 3-pointers, three by Clark.

Ed Nixon and Anthony Dorsey each scored 11 for Lakewood, which led 22-8 after one quarter and 36-29 at halftime.

LARGO - St. Petersburg proved better the second time around against Osceola, leading throughout and winning 63-50.

Garren Adulte led St. Petersburg with 16 points and helped feed an enthusiastic press and man-to-man defense that sent Osceola into one-on-one situations. Troy Brown and Christian Boyle each scored 12 for the Green Devils (6-2), who were up by 12 points at halftime.

Tim Cavanaugh led the night with 19 points for Osceola (3-5). .

"We had more to play for (Thursday) because we had beaten them," first-year Osceola coach Jeremy Schiller said. "If this had happened in the first week, we'd have been happy. But we know we can play better, so it hurts."

The Warriors fell behind 18-11 after the first quarter while St. Petersburg was focused on intimidating Osceola quickly with full-court defense, forcing turnovers and sloppy individual play, said Schiller.

Both of St. Petersburg's losses were by two points, including one to Osceola two weeks ago.

- ERIC MUSKATEVC, Times correspondent

SEMINOLE - Boca Ciega, behind the play of freshman guard Tory Stephens, used a 17-9 third-quarter run to take the lead and hold off Seminole 49-46. Stephens scored 19 points, including eight in the third quarter, and added nine steals and eight assists to help the Pirates end a two-game losing streak. But, it was the rookie guard's play at the top of a matchup zone that made the difference for Boca Ciega (8-2).

Seminole star guard Chelsea Patterson finished with 25 points, but shot less than 30 percent from the field. Stephens forced the senior guard to either shoot contested 3-pointers or helped drive her into a pack of defenders. The Pirates often ended up with breakaway opportunities.

After Bogie reclaimed the lead 34-32 in the third quarter off a 10-0 run, the play of Stephens was the difference.

Seminole opened the fourth with full-court pressure, but Stephens broke the press and found her teammates for baskets. When she was fouled, she made her free throws, nailing four in a row before missing two with 18 seconds left.

- CHRIS GIRANDOLA, Times correspondent

[Last modified December 16, 2005, 00:55:10]