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Pinellas Park Gets Past Middleton

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By LEE DIEKEMPER, Tribune correspondent

Published: February 15, 2008

PINELLAS PARK - After a rough start, largely attributed to Middleton's strong defense, host Pinellas Park racked up 27 fourth-quarter points to secure the 59-44 win Thursday.

With the Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinal victory, Pinellas Park will host Plant on Tuesday in the semifinal. Plant defeated Clearwater 59-52 in overtime Thursday.

Middleton (18-10) used solid defense to disrupt Pinellas Park (24-4) for much of the game.

"It wasn't a very good game aesthetically," Pinellas Park coach Allen Carden joked. But in the first half, Carden was hardly in a joking mood. Both teams initially seemed determined to commit the most turnovers.

A total of 10 points was scored in the first quarter, and Pinellas Park led 12-10 at halftime.

"Two points in the first quarter and 10 points in the first half isn't going to get it done," Middleton assistant coach Roland Williams said.

"We thought they were going to play a 1-3-1 matchup zone," Pinellas Park guard Cam Carden said. "They came out with a triangle-and-two. We had to get in a groove and find a way to score. Once we did, we were all right."

Carden, who has signed to play with Stetson, did just that. His 3-pointer midway through the third finally gave the Patriots some breathing room at 22-11.

But Carden was more dangerous passing. Le'andris Whiting (11 points) was the beneficiary of several of Carden's passes.

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