Pinellas: County roundup

By BRYAN BURNS, Times Staff Writer
Published December 14, 2007

DUNEDIN - Clearwater's matchup against Boca Ciega on Saturday might be the most anticipated girls basketball game of the season so far, but the Tornadoes had to take care of business Thursday against district opponent Dunedin.

Consider the 73-44 win over the previously once-beaten Falcons a clear signal that the Tornadoes are ready to make Saturday's matchup one for the ages.

"This game tonight was bigger to me," Clearwater coach Tom Shaneyfelt said. "These are the games you want to make sure you've established things and you know what you've got. The Boca Ciega game, like the Lakewood game we played earlier, is a good test to see where we are for the big picture."

And Shaneyfelt is more concerned with making sure his team is tops in Class 5A, District 9. The Tornadoes (10-1, 5-0) took a huge step toward that by forcing the Falcons into 36 turnovers with an aggressive fullcourt press that took the Falcons out of their offense.

"Our press really has improved," said Clearwater's J'Beria Davis, who scored 13 and grabbed ten rebounds. "We've been working on it throughout practice this week. It gave them a hard time trying to get the ball up the court to their point guard."

What made Clearwater's pressing defense even more effective was the depth on the Tornadoes bench. Four times during the game, Shaneyfelt substituted all five of his starters at once, bringing the backups in for a few minutes at a time - a squad that caused Dunedin just as many problems as the starters.

"We've got some pretty good kids on our bench," Shaneyfelt said. "We like to get them involved and get everybody in the flow of the game. It tends to wear on the other team a little bit."

Clearwater led 14-10 early in the second quarter before a 16-2 run that forced Dunedin (10-2, 8-2) to burn two timeouts and effectively put the game out of reach. The Tornadoes went into halftime with a 34-15 lead and ran out to a 24-point lead by the end of the third quarter.

Clearwater was led by Keona Dixon, who started slowly but finished with a game-high 23 points. Junior forward Artajah Collins added a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds, and substitute Rachel Brown contributed 11 points.

Dunedin's Cara Trudell, who entered as the Falcons' leading scorer with more than 11 points per game, finished with just six points and spent much of the game in foul trouble before fouling out for good early in the fourth quarter.

"We were very conscious of her," Shaneyfelt said. "Erin McElravy did a great job on her defensively."

- Boca Ciega 74, Seminole 26

At Boca Ciega, Pirates junior guard Tory Stephens scored her 1,000th career point.

"She's the first junior I've ever had reach 1,000," coach William White said. "This year, more so than scoring, she's really looking to distribute the ball, to play defense and to rebound."

Stephens scored 12 overall and made two 3-pointers for Boca Ciega (10-0).

Sophomore guard Latavia Dempsey finished with a game-high 21 points for the Pirates, who broke out to a 23-4 lead after the first quarter and held a 41-10 halftime advantage over Seminole (2-10).

Stephens' milestone comes a day after senior center Hannah Stenfors collected her 500th career rebound against Palm Harbor University. But Stenfors had her leg rolled up on and will miss the next few weeks.

BOYS SOCCER

Pinellas Park 2, Northeast 1

Danny Guzman's goal in the second half helped lead the host Patriots to an upset.

Pinellas Park entered halftime with a 1-0 lead after Ryan Rose scored with just 12 seconds remaining in the half. Guzman's goal in the second half gave the Patriots a 2-0 lead they would not relinquish.

Northeast (8-2) scored in the final three minutes, but it was too little too late as Pinellas Park improves to 3-5-2.

GIRLS SOCCER

Pinellas Park 2, Northeast 1

Host Pinellas Park overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit to earn its first victory.

Melanie Burns scored with 18 minutes remaining in the first half to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead, but 12 minutes into the second half, Pinellas Park's Ashley Murphy tied it at 1.

The game looked like it would end a 1-1 draw before Victoria Saucedo's winner with just two minutes remaining for the Patriots (1-9). Northeast drops to 3-5.

[Last modified December 14, 2007, 00:45:50]