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Boys Basketball: East Bay Records Come-From-Behind Win

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Jarrett Guthrie/The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 30, 2007

GIBSONTON The sight of students rushing the court at the end of a game is usually reserved for the end of district final or championship wins. But when the buzzer sounded after an Indian comeback over nearby rival Riverview, a roar went up and 40-plus students (including the junior varsity squad) rushed the team following East Bay's 33-32 victory against visiting Riverview.

East Bay fell behind early to Riverview, trailing once the Sharks took a 7-5 lead early in the first quarter. In fact, the Indians trailed in about every statistic going into the fourth quarter of Friday's home game, except total fouls. However, that all changed entering the fourth quarter trailing 30-21. The Sharks shooting went flat and the Indians (1-2) took advantage and rallied outscoring Riverview (1-3) 12-2 in the quarter for the win.

"Riverview is our big rival," East Bay coach Stan Conley said. "I told the team before the game, 'This is a game that means everything to us,' and they came here into our place and we needed to win."

Down 30-29 with :42 left in the game the Indians succeeded in the quarter where the Sharks did not - at the free-throw line. Senior guard Brandon Buford stepped to the line after and drained two free throws to give the East Bay its first lead since the opening quarter. The Riverview responded with its only basket of the quarter to regain the one-point advantage on a field goal by Chris Thomas.

However, the Indians weren't done. Controlling the ball and setting up for the final shot and the Sharks' defense knocked the ball out of the hands of East Bay's Mitch Harley, but Buford recovered and took the ball into the key and hit a layup with his right hand leaving :04 on the clock and securing the win.

"This is big," Buford said. "We came up in the end, made all the right plays and came through for a big first 'W'."

All six of Buford's points came in the second half with four in the last minute.

"He hit that last shot for the win and up until then he hadn't hit too many shots," Conley said. "He came through in the clutch and for him to step up to make those [free throws] was real big."

For the Indians, junior guard Jaquaun Holliday had 14 points leading the team, with his fellow junior guard Richard Atkins having seven points.

Riverview had leads of eight, seven and nine at the end of the first three quarters, the team was 6-of-21 from the free throw line and only made four field goals in the second half. The Sharks were led by Eliot Shoffner who had 11 points (all in the first half) and Keith Bayard and Nick Shoffner each had seven points.

PINELLAS PARK 74, EAST LAKE 40: Unbeaten Pinellas Park ran its record to 5-0 with a solid victory over East Lake (0-4) Friday night in boys high school basketball.

The Patriots used speed, intensity, and a suffocating defense to beat the visiting Eagles. Pinellas Park jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead. They were ahead 19-7 by the end of the first quarter and 48-21 at the half.

Patriot coach Allen Carden praised his team's energy and intensity.

"I thought we had tremendous energy," he said. "I told the guys at halftime to turn up the defensive pressure but I actually had to slow them down on offense. We missed a few chances because we were in a hurry. I am very pleased with our effort. We are off to a good start this season. We are looking forward to some great competition at the holiday tournaments."

Nine Patriots made the scoring column. They were led by 6-9 senior center Jacob Troyli with 16 points and Jesse Woods with 15. Troyli also had 11 rebounds.

Sparkplug Cam Carden, a senior guard, drilled three 3-pointers, had 11 assists, and grabbed nine steals. He had a total of eight points. Tavarius Jones contributed 10 points for the winners.

The Patriots had 27 turnovers but forced East Lake into 33.

The Eagles came out stronger in the third quarter with Kendall O'Neill getting all nine of the team's points in that frame. He led the team with 18 points.
Pinellas Park has four starters back from last season and is expected to be a contender in a tough 5A district.

Mike Moore

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