Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

Mosby dominates; Hernando advances

By GREG AUMAN and WAYNE GRUMET

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 9, 2001

BROOKSVILLE -- It wasn't exactly Hernando's Bernice Mosby against Lecanto on Thursday night.

But if you were keeping track, Mosby outscored Lecanto nearly all the way, until 2:54 was left to play and the Leopards were safely on their way to the state playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.

Mosby finished with 29 points and 15 rebounds, leading Hernando to a 62-33 victory in the semifinals of the District 7 tournament. The Leopards (20-3) will face second-seeded North Marion, a 45-39 winner against Leesburg, in Saturday's championship game.

"I expected it to be hard, because when you play a team the third time around, it's real difficult," said Mosby, who had 20 points in the first half. "They came out in the first half kind of slow, so we took advantage of it."

Mosby also had four blocks and three steals, keying a defensive effort that held Lecanto to four first-quarter points and 11 at the half. The Panthers (11-16) hit 22 percent of their field-goal attempts.

"We didn't shoot the ball for nothing," Lecanto coach Ron Allan said. "It's a tribute to their defensive pressure. We couldn't get anything to drop when we needed it."

The Panthers were led by Erin Bailey, who scored all of her 10 points in the second half. Hernando got 10 points and 12 rebounds from senior forward Carmen Byrd, the daughter of coach Rodney Byrd, who was most pleased with her rebounding.

"She crashed the boards," Byrd said. "Her job is to get what they used to call garbage points, pass it around, go to the line every now and then."

North Marion (14-10) held off Leesburg (10-12) despite 27 points from Jasmine Patterson, who scored all but two of her team's second-half points. Candise Lynum (7 points) was the only other player to score more than two.

"Nobody wanted the ball tonight," Leesburg coach Tracey Hanson said. "Everybody was afraid. Jasmine was looking for other people, but nobody else wanted to step up tonight and play. That was the killer. Jasmine played her heart out, but one player does not make a team."

The Colts were led by Erica Smith, who scored 16 points and put the game away by scoring off her own missed free throw with 44 seconds left.

Both of Thursday's winning teams will advance to the playoffs, with Saturday's winner getting to host its first-round game. -- GREG AUMAN

4A-8: Pasco, Hudson win

LAND O'LAKES -- Hudson and Pasco did their best to not look ahead to a Saturday showdown in the Class 4A, District 8 final.

Despite the distraction, Pasco held off Tarpon Springs 47-37 in the first game and Hudson routed host Land O'Lakes 62-38 in the second game on Thursday.

Pasco's Ebony Adams and Hudson's Nicole Warder will square off at least one more time as each senior carried their teams to victory.

Adams scored 17 of her 26 points in the second half, helping Pasco (14-11) pull away from Tarpon Springs (12-13) after holding a 20-19 lead at halftime. Adams keyed a 19-9 run to open up a 39-30 lead with 4:24 to play.

Warder nearly matched Adams, scoring 24 points against Land O'Lakes (10-19). Warder did most of her damage during a 22-3 second quarter in which she scored nine to help Hudson (17-6) build up a 32-16 halftime lead.

The Pirates and Cobras each frustrated their opponents into mistakes.

Pasco used its quickness to grab 12 offensive rebounds and its pressure defense to force six turnovers in the decisive third quarter.

As for Hudson, its defense forced eight turnovers in the second quarter, holding the Gators scoreless for the first 5:13.

These two defenses will now be focused on stopping two of the county's most prolific scorers. Warder and Adams each topped the 1,000-point scoring mark this season.

The teams split their two regular-season meetings with each defending its home court.

"What I really want is for us to have the trophy my last year," Adams said. "That's where I feel the trophy needs to be, at Pasco."

Hudson coach Doreen Grote added, "We always have a hard time with Ebony because she can have so much control over a game. She can hit you from the outside and the inside. We'll look forward to the challenge."- WAYNE GRUMET

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright