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'Canes come together in time to reach final

By KEITH NIEBUHR

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 10, 2001

DUNNELLON -- This is what Citrus coach Bruce Nelson has been waiting for.

With the Hurricanes one win away from reaching the state playoffs and one loss away from going home, they put everything together and the timing could not have been better.

Behind 19 points each from Alycia LePage and Katie Steelfox, third-seeded Citrus whipped second-seeded Dunnellon 60-37 to advance into tonight's 3A-6 final, where it will play top-seeded South Sumter. The Raiders beat fourth-seeded Crystal River 54-21 earlier in the day.

"We have not played up to this level all year," Nelson said. "What a time to come together."

The win assures Citrus (14-11) of making the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

LePage and Steelfox set the tone early.

Ten seconds into the game, Steelfox drilled a three-pointer from the left wing. A little more than a minute later, LePage hit another three-pointer. By game's end, the guard duo had combined to hit five.

"Katie and Alycia really stepped it up tonight," Citrus guard Kristin Berger said. "They were on fire."

For the most part, so was everyone else.

Citrus hit long-range shots, short-range jumpers and layups. If scored out of half-court sets and off fast-break opportunities.

"We knew we had to keep our intensity up," LePage said.

The Hurricanes led 16-14 after one quarter and 35-23 at the half, thanks to a Steelfox three-pointer with three seconds left. They took control in the third quarter with separate runs of 6-0 and 7-0.

"We got a lot of points off hustle and our press worked tonight," Nelson said.

Meghan Lane led Dunnellon (9-9) with 14 points.

South Sumter (24-3) never trailed in its decisive win over Crystal River (4-21) and led by as many as 38 before pulling its starters. Ezria Parsons led South Sumter with 26 points. The Pirates went 2-of-19 from the field and were outrebounded 22-9 in the first half.

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