Not an instant classic, but Spartans will take it

Lakewood and Clearwater both have trouble finding the basket, but the home team claims the PCAC title.

By JEREMY WRITT
Published February 4, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Friday's Pinellas County Athletic Conference game between Lakewood (21-5) and Clearwater (18-6) was intense and closely contested until the very end. But it was far from pretty.

"We got two teams kind of mirroring each other," Lakewood coach Daniel Wright said. "Both were state finalists last year. We both have basically a new basketball team and we're young."

The Spartans won 39-34 despite shooting 24 percent from the floor in the first half. Clearwater packed its 1-2-2 defense back into the lane, forcing Lakewood to shoot jumpers.

"We worked on it a lot for this team knowing that, you know, they're not really a good shooting team," Clearwater guard Patrick Baker said. "We figured we'd make them beat us from the 3-point line instead of them getting easy buckets on the inside."

Lakewood had as many turnovers as points at halftime, where it trailed 16-10. Clearwater, who shot worse than the Spartans in the first half (21 percent) had more points than Lakewood had shots until halfway through the second quarter.

Edward Nixon (16 points) was the catalyst for the Spartans, who came back in the third quarter. After Baker gave the Tornadoes an 18-10 lead on a lay-up to start the half, Nixon hit a 3-pointer and converted all three free throws after getting fouled on his next long-range attempt. Ronnie Lane (10 points) tied it at 18 with a short jumper in the lane, scoring before Nixon ended his 11-point quarter with a short runner and another from downtown.

"Nixon's our guy," Wright said. "Ed's been phenomenal for us all year long."

With the lead for the first time since the first quarter, the Spartans defense increased its intensity and held Clearwater scoreless for six minutes. Jordan Scholl's only basket made it 36-30, ending the drought with 4:45 remaining. Baker led all scorers with 20 points.

[Last modified February 4, 2006, 00:33:08]