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Brandon Advances With Easy Victory

By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 15, 2008

BRANDON - Once Brandon (22-4) blazed away from start of the second quarter, there wasn't a lot Land O' Lakes (21-7) could do, especially shorthanded, to try to catch up.

The Eagles outscored Land O' Lakes by 14 points in the first quarter, giving Brandon the cushion that eventually led to its 68-44 win in the Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinals Thursday night.

"I think when we came out we had intensity on defense and we were able to get the ball out and run up and down the floor like we like to do and we got some pretty easy baskets at the beginning of the game," said Blake Allen, who led the Eagles with 21 points.

Turnovers hampered the Gators early on.

Land O' Lakes had been without big man Quentin Bastian, who broke his ankle the weekend before the district tournament, and then it lost point guard P.J. Potts to a suspension.

"We didn't shoot, we didn't pass, we didn't rebound, we didn't play defense, so nothing happened for us," Land O' Lakes coach Dave Puhalski said. "Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We missed a lot of layups, a lot of easy opportunities and had just a ton of turnovers early, and that just changed the whole way we played. We didn't take care of the ball early."

Brandon had about an 18-point lead for much of the third quarter before Land O' Lakes' Jerome Harrison drew a foul and hit both free throws, then had another basket on back-to-back possessions to get the Gators within 13.

But that was as close as they got as Allen answered with a 3-pointer as the third quarter ended.

As usual, Brandon had four players in double-digit scoring. In addition to Blake's 21, James Ramsay and Evan Ravenel each had 15 points and Marcus Morrison had 12.

Brandon travels to Ridgewood on Tuesday in the Class 5A-Region 2 semifinal.

Reporter Cristina Ledra can be reached at (813) 948-4203 or cledra@tampatrib.com.

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