Sports

Hillsborough: County roundup

By KEITH NIEBUHR
Published January 23, 2008

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The Robinson girls basketball team was beaten Tuesday night.

Again.

But coach Jessica Vitale wasn't discouraged. Quite the opposite, in fact.

That's because against King, one of the county's better teams, the Knights lost only 45-38. And for a squad that is now 1-20, that's a sign of progress.

"This is our best game of the season by far," Vitale said.

King got 15 points from Samara Shepherd. The Lions led 29-16 at the half, then hung on after the Knights rallied a bit in the final two quarters.

Zhanea Charles led Robinson with 16 points and 10 boards. Akira Conner added 13 points and 10 rebounds.

- Plant 45, Armwood 32

At Armwood, Michelle Taylor scored 16 and DeErika Brown added nine as Plant fought off a late Hawks rally. Plant had a sizeable lead entering the final quarter, but Armwood cut it to seven with two minutes to play.

"We played hard and with a lot of tenacity," Armwood coach Billy Teeden said. "But Plant is 19-4. They're a solid team. I give them credit. They played hard. I love our girls and the way they played."

Megan Fitzpatrick led the Hawks with 11 points.

- Sickles 56, Leto 24

At Sickles, the Gryphons improved to 20-2 with their eighth straight victory. Senior shooting guard Shawnta Snakovsky led Sickles with 24 points.

"She shot the ball very well," Sickles coach Mark Key said. "She had four 3-pointers. She was real quick on defense and was able to get some layups."

Senior forward Melissa Ramsey added 10 points for the victors.

- Tampa Bay Tech 62, East Bay 36

At East Bay, forward Rudrenia Ashley led a balanced scoring attack with 11 points as the Titans rallied from a 22-16 halftime deficit. Forward Shytina Harley paced East Bay with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Tampa Bay Tech is 22-1.

East Bay falls to 6-14.

"We played well for a half," East Bay coach Terry Varvil said. "They've got a bunch of stud horses. We're playing with ponies at the moment. We're very young. I'm real excited on what that leads to in the future."

BOYS BASKETBALL

Sickles 66, Gaither 62

At Gaither, Kelvin Daniels scored 26 as Sickles (19-2) held Gaither at bay down the stretch. The Cowboys (7-11) were paced by forward Kornilous Donnell, who scored 29.

Sickles led 35-29 at the half.

The Gryphons were ahead by eight entering the final quarter, but Gaither rallied to make things interesting. At one point, the Cowboys trailed by only two.

"We gave up too many 3-pointers," Gaither coach Dwayne Olinger. "That's the bottom line. We didn't defend well enough to win the ballgame. We executed offensively pretty well. We just couldn't come up with enough big stops."

- Tampa Catholic 62, Clearwater Central Catholic 51

At TC, the Crusaders moved to 12-8 behind center Alex Doyle's 19 points and 10 boards. TC trailed 30-27 at the half. The teams were tied at 44 entering the fourth.

"We were very fortunate to come out with a win," Crusaders coach Don Dziagwa said. "We played a very good fourth quarter."

Forward James Didden added 13 rebounds for TC.

CCC was led by Eric Segert, who scored 35 and was 7 of 9 from 3-point range. But in the final quarter, he was limited to six points.

As a team, CCC had one field goal and four free throws in the fourth.

[Last modified January 23, 2008, 01:24:55]