Pinellas: County roundup

By BRYAN BURNS
Published December 19, 2007

Tarpon Springs led the majority of the way in its 49-47 victory over East Lake at home Tuesday, but the Spongers had to hold off a late fourth-quarter rally by the Eagles to preserve it.

Tarpon Springs led 39-31 after the third quarter but was outscored 16-10 in the fourth.

Nate Keys was the only Tarpon Springs player in double figures with 11 points, but the Spongers (3-7) won it with contributions from a number of players.

"We just had a real balanced scoring attack," Tarpon Springs coach Steve Plummer said. "We played together. East Lake didn't have a good shooting night, and we didn't give them any second-chance opportunities."

Matt Moore had a game-high 19 points for East Lake (2-8), and Dalorion Carter added 13.

For Plummer, a first-year coach at Tarpon Springs, the win was his first in District 5A-9.

"This was a sweet victory for me," he said.

Gibbs 75, Osceola 38

Gibbs turned a six-point lead after the first quarter into a 39-19 halftime advantage en route to a dominating win at Osceola.

Gibbs had three players in double figures, led by Larry Murphy's 15 points. Marcus Russ had 14 points and Ke'Owen Walker added 12 for the Gladiators (7-2).

Sebastian Wolfe had a game-high 19 points for Osceola (0-9).

Clearwater 67, Dunedin 35

Clearwater led by seven at halftime on the road against Dunedin but exploded in the third quarter, outscoring the Falcons 23-8 to win handily and pick up its sixth district win in six games (5A-9).

"We played a really good second half," Clearwater coach Jack Coit said. "We shared the ball better, and we were more patient in our offense."

Adam Pegg scored 21 and Regan O'Rourke added 17 for Clearwater, which improves to 9-0.

Boca Ciega 64, Palm Harbor University 58

Boca Ciega and PHU played a tight game, but the Pirates made a few more plays down the stretch to pull out a victory at Palm Harbor.

Boca Ciega (7-2) led by as many as 10 in the second quarter before the Hurricanes stormed back to tie it at 38 heading into halftime.

PHU (2-7) trailed by two with less than two minutes remaining but "couldn't get over the hump," PHU coach Mike Walters said.

"We hung right with them. Our kids played hard," Walters said.

Four players scored in double figures for Boca Ciega, highlighted by Norman Williams' 17 points. Kevin McKellar had a team-high 17 points for the Hurricanes.

Lakewood 91, Northeast 43

Lakewood overcame early foul trouble to starting forwards Mike Morrison and James Pope and an injury to starter Iraz Gray, who sat out with a sprained ankle, for a runaway victory at home.

Lakewood (9-0) and Northeast battled to a 16-16 tie after the first quarter before the Spartans ran out to a 12-point lead at halftime. Lakewood's 35 third-quarter points effectively put the game out of reach.

Dominic Lane had a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds for Lakewood, which had eight players in double figures. Josh Long had 14 points to lead Northeast (2-9).

GIRLS SOCCER

St. Petersburg 8, Osceola 0

Freshman forward Sara Parker scored four goals to help St. Petersburg improve to 5-4-2 with a dominating performance over Osceola (8-5) on the road.

Andrea Rodrigues added two goals for St. Petersburg, which scored five times in the first half.

"We're plagued with injuries right now, but we should have played better than that," Osceola coach Tom Davis said. "They're very fast. We tried to keep up with them and mark them, but it just wasn't working for us."

Pinellas Park 1, Boca Ciega 0

Camilla Brito's goal in the 77th minute gave Pinellas Park a victory at Boca Ciega.

Boca Ciega had a chance to grab the equalizer in the final two minutes when it was awarded a penalty kick, but Pinellas Park's Alyssa Doheny saved the shot, and ultimately the game.

[Last modified December 19, 2007, 00:38:57]