Sports

Pinellas: County roundup

By BRYAN BURNS
Published January 10, 2008

---

ADVERTISEMENT

St. Petersburg was on the verge of scoring an upset victory at home over Palm Harbor University until Queli Ornelas' shot with seven minutes remaining Wednesday found the back of the net, salvaging a 2-2 tie for the Hurricanes.

St. Petersburg (6-5-3) took a 2-1 lead after halftime on a scoring strike from Tabitha Schofield. That score looked like it would hold up until Ornelas' equalizer.

St. Petersburg leading scorer Andrea Rodrigues got the Green Devils on the board first. Catherine Brinkman answered later in the first half for PHU (13-1-2) to send the game into halftime tied at 1.

"It was the best game we've played all year," St. Petersburg coach Rui Farias said.

 

Lakewood 2, Pinellas Park 0

At home on Senior Night, Lakewood overcame a sluggish first half by scoring twice in the second half and knocking off Pinellas Park.

Lakewood was awarded a penalty kick five minutes into the second half when a corner kick was handled by a Pinellas Park player in the box. Robin Loughry made the penalty kick to give Lakewood the lead.

Ten minutes later, Ashli Henkel blasted a shot 25 yards from goal for a 2-0 Lakewood advantage.

"The first half was a little slow going for us, but we turned it up in the second half," Lakewood coach Darlene Lebo said.

 

Dixie Hollins 1, Northeast 0

Stephanie Quiroz's shot with 20 minutes remaining sent Dixie Hollins past Northeast at home.

The goal was set up by Taylor Nelson, who crossed into the box for Danielle Slivly. Slivly dropped the ball off for Quiroz, and Quiroz one-timed the shot into the back of the net for the Rebels (3-11-1).

"We're a very young, developing team. We have 14- and 15-year-olds playing against 17- and 18-year-olds," Dixie Hollins coach Chris Griffin said. "This is good experience for us getting a couple of wins to help us be more competitive the next couple of years."

Northeast falls to 3-7-4.

 

Clearwater 1, Osceola 0

At home on Senior Night, Clearwater scored seven minutes in on a goal from Holly Pedersen and held on to defeat Osceola (9-6).

Clearwater goalkeeper Bethany Houser, who had 10 total stops, made a number of clutch saves for the Tornadoes (7-7-2).

"She played a heck of a game," Clearwater coach Robert Lucio said. "It was probably her best game of the year. She made some great stretch saves throughout the match."

 

BOYS SOCCER

Lakewood 5, Pinellas Park 2

At Lakewood, the Spartans jumped out to a two-goal lead by halftime.

Shane Wixted and Troy Mathews had two goals apiece for Lakewood (8-5). It was the 10th goal of the season for each player. Mathews' first goal was a wicked strike from 35 yards out that knuckled into the back of the net.

Pinellas Park drops to 8-7.

 

St. Petersburg Catholic 3, Clearwater Central Catholic 2

SPC and CCC went goal-for-goal in the first half to take a 2-2 tie into the halftime break before Tim Columbus struck the winner for the host Barons just one minute into the second half.

Columbus had two goals for the Barons and Elliott Krueger also picked up a goal. Phil Vitrano assisted on all three goals for SPC (7-3-4). Brian McArdle and Roberto Andrade had the goals for CCC (2-15-2).

 

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Alonso 47, Countryside 36

Alonso avenged an earlier double-digit loss to Countryside with an 11-point victory at home.

Countryside (8-7) had no answer for Alonso's Iesha Campbell. The 6-foot-4 center was unstoppable in the post for the Ravens (2-11), making 10 field goals and scoring a game-high 22.

Alonso led 26-22 after three quarters before outscoring Countryside 21-14 in the fourth for the 11-point victory.

Countryside was led by Madison Truluck's 10 points.

 

BOYS BASKETBALL

Palm Harbor University 63, East Lake 56

PHU made 10-of-14 free throws in the fourth quarter, highlighted by Tyler Stevenson's 5-for-6 effort to hold off East Lake at home.

"That's our best free-throw shooting exhibition in the last five games," PHU coach Michael Walters said.

The Hurricanes (7-10) opened up a 17-point lead after halftime only to watch East Lake (4-11) cut the lead to four by the end of the quarter.

Sam Purdy nailed five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead PHU. Chaz Green added 15 points for the Hurricanes. East Lake was led by Matt Moore's 18 points.

 

St. Petersburg 47, Dixie Hollins 43

St. Petersburg overcame a horrid start to defeat Dixie Hollins on the road.

The Green Devils (11-6) trailed 23-13 at halftime before cutting the Rebels' lead to two by the end of the third quarter. St. Petersburg outscored Dixie Hollins 17-11 in the final quarter for the win.

Gabriel Moton had 15 points, including three 3-pointers, to pace St. Petersburg. Dixie Hollins (7-9) was led by Devonta Davis' 14 points.

[Last modified January 10, 2008, 00:59:00]

[an error occurred while processing this directive]