Terriers, Sharks in final

Hillsborough stays steady at the line to top Bloomingdale; host Riverview wins by 12.

By BRYAN BURNS Times Correspondent
Published December 29, 2006

RIVERVIEW - Hillsborough coach Chris Brazzle stresses the importance of free throws to his team every day in practice. He says the Terriers practice free throws "for hours," usually with artificial crowd noise to simulate pressure situations.

Whatever the method, it worked for Brazzle's young team against Bloomingdale in Thursday's semifinals of the Shark Invitational.

The Terriers (9-3), who start two freshmen, two sophomores and a senior, made 13-of-16 free throws - including 9-of-11 in the fourth quarter - to earn a hard-fought 42-38 victory.

"Every (free throw) we miss (in practice), we've got to run, then go back to the line and do it again" Brazzle said. "Free throws win games."

Having a sophomore guard step up with the game on the line helps too. Shalisia Hall hit 6-of-6 free throws in the fourth quarter and made both ends of a one-and-one with her team leading 38-35 and just under 30 seconds left. She had nine of her team-high 19 points in the final quarter.

"She has what I call the 'it' factor," Brazzle said. "A lot of people don't have it at that young age."

Hillsborough trailed 29-28 going into the fourth quarter before making enough plays down the stretch to win it. Bloomingdale (9-5) was led by Paris Moore's 18 points.

The Terriers face Riverview at 7:30 tonight in the final after the Sharks, behind Ashley Milian's 27 points and 17 rebounds, disposed of Lakewood Ranch 59-47.

Riverview (7-4) pushed to a 48-33 lead early in the fourth quarter but struggled to put the Mustangs (6-10) away. The game was sloppy on both ends: Riverview turned the ball over 26 times, Lakewood Ranch 23.

"We were extremely impatient with the ball," Sharks coach Lelani Gordon said. "We just have to get better at knowing how to ice the game when you have a lead. We're not there yet."

Bloomingdale faces Lakewood Ranch for third place. In the consolation bracket, both East Bay and Brandon won Thursday and will meet for fifth place at 4:30 p.m.

[Last modified December 28, 2006, 23:27:42]