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Wesley Chapel, LOL Roll Into Final

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By LARRY BUGG, Tribune correspondent

Published: February 2, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Top-seeded Wesley Chapel and second-seeded Land O' Lakes won handily Friday night to advance to tonight's final of the Class 5A-District 7 girls basketball tournament.

Land O' Lakes (24-2) forced Ridgewood (17-9) into 13 turnovers in the first quarter and shot out to a 22-4 lead after the first quarter. Ridgewood ended up with 34 turnovers but the Rams cut the lead to five, 39-34 with 2:22 left in the third quarter.

Land O' Lakes, who committed 28 turnovers, scored the last 10 points to win 62-39.
Kayli Keough led the Gators with 24 points and nine rebounds. Her sister, Meghan, added 17 points.

"We knew that we had to come out with a lot of energy," said Land O' Lakes coach Laurie Pacholke. "We think we are best on defense. It worked. We didn't allow ourselves to beat ourselves. You can't play the same way you do in postseason as you do in regular season. We really got into an aggressive mode. I was proud of the girls.

"This team has really come together. They really, truly care about each other. They have each other's backs. They're not going to let someone else down."

Aleesa Williamson led the Rams with 15 points.

"They Land O' Lakes wanted it worse than we did," said Ridgewood coach Greg Bollinger. "They jumped on us pretty hard. We missed a lot of shots in the third quarter. They played harder than we did. They played more intense than we did."
Wesley Chapel (21-4) had problems with transportation as its bus never showed. The team managed to get to the tournament and then beat Brooksville Central 64-35. Four Wildcat girls scored in double figures. Cree McIver scored 12 points. Desiree Vizcaino, Caitlin Deboer and Janelle Mills all scored 10 points for the Wildcats.

Raqurra Ishmar led Central with 12 points.

"Our bus never came," said Wesley Chapel coach Warren Jones. "Those things kind of throw you off. We had to pile six in a car to get over here. We got here kind of late. We didn't get a chance to warm up. In the second half, they picked up and did what they were supposed to do.

"We went the back way and I didn't have any gas. As long as we get out of here with a W."

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