Girls 3A hoops: Barons stumble at end

After climbing back in the fourth, SPC is unable to capitalize.

By BOB PUTNAM
Published February 13, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Something about Fort Myers Dunbar is so different from other teams. The Tigers win not by playing classic basketball, but by grinding their opponents, then gleefully vacuuming up the pieces.

Dunbar didn't always look nice Tuesday, and sure enough, it won, rallying to beat St. Petersburg Catholic 36-32.

"This is exactly the type of game we wanted," Tigers coach Dwayne Donnell said. "We came out and were aggressive, especially on defense."

Dunbar's style disrupted the Barons early. Thanks to their stifling defense, the Tigers took a 9-4 lead after the first quarter and stayed ahead 18-13 at the half.

But St. Petersburg Catholic was patient, slowly chipping away at the deficit. Near the end of the third quarter, Holly Janicki hit a 3-pointer to give the Barons their first lead, 21-20. SPC increased it to 25-22 at the start of the fourth.

Better still, Dunbar's 6-footers, Brittany Brown and Chelsea Gordon, were in foul trouble.

"We had things going our way at that time," Barons coach Nick Vandewalle said.

Then things slipped away.

SPC's Sasha Chaplin picked up two quick fouls in the fourth, giving her four and forcing to sit for part of the quarter. Dunbar took advantage by driving inside for layups or drawing fouls.

The Tigers (24-2) outscored SPC 14-7 in the fourth quarter.

Jerrica Coley scored a team-high 13 and Chaplin added 10 for the Barons (26-2).

"It's tough because we had a chance to win, but we let it slip through our fingers," Vandewalle said.

[Last modified February 13, 2008, 00:33:57]