TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Panthers Regroup, Advance To Semifinals

ADVERTISEMENT

By GREGG BECNEL, Tribune correspondent

Published: February 8, 2008

TAMPA - The Plant girls basketball team nearly had a meltdown in its Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinal Thursday against Dunedin, but the Panthers regrouped in time to pull out a 53-43 win.

The Panthers (24-4) will play at Clearwater on Tuesday in a semifinal matchup.

"It wasn't pretty," Plant coach Carrie Mahon said. "I'm disappointed in myself. I don't think I did a good enough job coaching. When we have a team down, we have to put them away."

Plant led 37-25 with 2:03 left in the third quarter and went into the fourth up 40-29.

But Dunedin went on a 13-4 run to cut it to 44-42 with 3:20 remaining.

That's when Panthers sophomore Michelle Taylor decided enough was enough.

With the Falcons (17-8) having a chance to tie or take the lead, Taylor got a steal and went the length of the court for a layup and a four-point lead.

"Michelle wants to win," Mahon said. "She fears losing."

Dunedin got within 46-43 with 1:25 remaining, but Plant scored the final seven points.

"Plant went up 10 or 12 a couple of times before we'd come back and cut it to two or three," Falcons coach Dustin Bengston said. "But then it was the same thing; we just couldn't keep it going. We could never come all the way back."

Dunedin's press helped it get back in the game, as Plant had trouble effectively breaking it all night.

"We're more of a transition team," said Taylor, who scored a game-high 21 points. "Their press made us set up the offense more."

Freshman Ganice Macho added 10 points for the Panthers. Senior Kaitlyn Ostroski, in her third game back since deciding to resume playing with a torn right ACL, came off the bench and finished with four points and six rebounds.

Cara Trudell led the Falcons with 16 points, while Jenae Swan scored 12.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT