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The 5A semi was like a chess game. And South Broward made all the right moves to win.
By ERIC VICIAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 2, 2000
LAKELAND -- Just throw out the first quarter because that was what Clearwater and Hollywood South Broward did in the Class 5A semifinal Wednesday at the Lakeland Center. Once you got past those scoreless eight minutes, highlighted by zero shot attempts as Natalie Wilkinson held the ball at halfcourt, and you had a great game.
What it amounted to was a chess match between Clearwater coach Tom Shaneyfelt and South Broward coach Abby Ward. The top-ranked Bulldogs matched the fifth-ranked Tornadoes move for move all the way to the wire.
The winning move came with 27 seconds left. Charlene Wilson drained just her seventh three-pointer of the season, giving the Bulldogs a 36-35 advantage. Toccara Williams added a free throw with three seconds left. Checkmate. South Broward 37, Clearwater 35.
"I was real impressed with their 2-3 (zone defense) and wanted to play against it as little as possible," Shaneyfelt said of his strategy.
"I wasn't going to buy into it," Ward said. "I didn't want to play his game."
The "game" featured 20 first-half possessions for the Tornadoes (26-7). Of those, 10 were missed shots (including seven three-pointers), seven were turnovers (six steals) and three were produced points.
The result was an 11-5 halftime lead for the Bulldogs (30-4). Still, Clearwater managed to fluster South Broward's potent offense, which averaged 65 points a game.
Trailing by eight early in the fourth, Clearwater battled back and took a 33-31 lead on Dominique Redding's basket, her 10th point of the game, with 1:49 left.
With the score tied 33-33, Clearwater tried to stall some more. This time, the Bulldogs attacked.
"I thought for three quarters how to prevent (Shaneyfelt) from holding it again," Ward said. "I had to think of stuff I had on the shelf."
South Broward got Vanessa Adams to foul out and then forced a turnover before Wilson's three.
Seniors Ruth Hammond and Alison O'Brien played strongly in their final high school game. Hammond led the Tornadoes with 11 points while Alison O'Brien led them with 10 rebounds.
"I would have been happy if we would have won," O'Brien said. "It would have been nice. I think we played real well."