Barons look ugly but get win

By JEREMY WRITT
Published December 28, 2005

ST PETERSBURG - St. Petersburg Catholic looked sluggish after not having played in more than two weeks but beat Osceola 57-45 in the first round of the Hooters Holiday Shootout.

"That was as bad as we've played offensively. We haven't played in 17 days, and we looked like a team that hadn't played in 17 days," Barons coach Mike Moran said. "I guess defensively I can't be too upset with what we did. But on offense, we might have set basketball back 20 years."

The Barons relied on Aaron Holmes, who scored 31, including a personal 12-0 run that spanned the first and second quarters, to help build a 23-15 halftime lead.

"I took it upon myself to start taking the lead for our team," Holmes said. "We took Osceola a little lightly, but I thought we finished up strong."

Holmes repeatedly bailed out his team, which had trouble solving Osceola's zone. Edward Rolax was the only other Baron to reach double digits, scoring 10 in the second half to finish with 13. Grady Jorgenson increased SPC's lead to 39-32 with consecutive 3-pointers late in the third, his only baskets of the game.

CARDINAL GIBBONS 75, ST. PETERSBURG 66: The Redskins of Fort Lauderdale used an 11-2 run early in the third to break open a close game at Eckerd. David Blackwell led Gibbons, ranked No.10 in 4A, with 24 points while Alvin Mitchell scored 23. But Boo Johnson made the difference in the second half with 13 points and six steals as the Redskins outscored the Green Devils 38-26.

Gibbons has seven players taller than 6 feet 4 while St. Petersburg (6-4) has only one, Donald Bowens. And it was his first game after a two-week absence due to an injury.

BOCA CIEGA 67, CARTERSVILLE (GA.) 53: The Pirates put enough streaks together. They were hot early, making 4 of 7 3-pointers, but made only one of their next 16 and trailed 43-42 before scoring 25 points in the fourth.

DR. KROP 72, BRANDON 44: The Lightning of Miami used its big men to pull away. Up 18-9, Luis Colon, 6 feet 10, and Orane Chin, 6-7, combined for 12 of Krop's 15 second-quarter points as the Eagles, whose tallest player was Devin Smith at 6-4, fell behind 33-21 at halftime.

Times correspondent Chris Girandola contributed to this report.

TODAY At Eckerd - Cardinal Gibbons vs. SPC, 4; Kathleen vs. Dr. Krop, 5:30; Boca Ciega vs. South (Ga.) Cobb-Winter Springs winner, 7; Gibbs vs. Lake Wales, 8:30.

At Boca Ciega - St. Petersburg vs. Osceola, 4; Dwyer vs. Lakewood, 5:30; Cartersville (Ga.) vs. South (Ga.) Cobb-Winter Springs loser, 7; Miami Northwest Chr. vs. Brandon, 8:30.

THURSDAY

At Eckerd - Semifinals at 7 and 8:30 p.m.; Consolation games at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY

At Eckerd - Championship game, 7 p.m.; Third-place game, 5:30; fifth-place game, 4; seventh-place game, 2:30

[Last modified December 28, 2005, 00:37:18]