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Winter Haven Rolls Past Wildcats

By JARRETT GUTHRIE, Tribune correspondent

Published: February 17, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - Winter Haven girls basketball coach LaDawn Gibson said her team's practice Friday was "lackadaisical," prompting her to end the session after only 45 minutes. Gibson said she was looking for a response from her team in Saturday's Class 5A-Region 2 final against Wesley Chapel.

The Blue Devils responded by taking a double-digit lead into halftime, and they never looked back in a 55-37 victory.

The Wildcats started the game making crisp passes and scored six unanswered points, but the Blue Devils responded with a 10-0 run capped by a nice rebound and jumper by senior Ashley Martin.

With the teams tied at 10 after the first quarter, Winter Haven asserted its authority in the second. The Blue Devils outscored the Wildcats 16-4 in the quarter, including nine points from Tiffany Hayes.

Hayes was the Blue Devils' leading scorer with 19 points, and Kiara Francisco added 15.

The second-quarter scoring opened with two free throws by the Wildcats, but almost six minutes passed before Wesley Chapel scored its only other points of the period on a putback by Jeani Davis.

The Blue Devils stretched their lead to 17 in the second half as they started to see more Wildcats fouls and increased opportunities from the free-throw line. Overall, the Blue Devils were 15-for-20 from the line, with Francisco going 8-for-10.

"They are supposed to be just that - free," Gibson of the team's chances at the line. "Free throws are what got us past Lake Gibson in the region semifinals, and none of our girls take any of those things for granted."

The Wildcats started the fourth quarter aggressively, with 3-pointers by Cree McIver and Desiree Vizcaino, but the game was already out of hand. The Blue Devils continued to play strong, scoring 16 in the final quarter.

"This is a great win because it sends a statement that we are here because we are good enough to be here," Gibson said. "And we are not here by chance."
Vizcaino led the Wildcats with 12 points. McIver added nine.

"We knew they were the best, but we weren't going to give them anything easy," Wildcats coach Warren Jones said. "I think we needed to weather their runs a little better, but I think we played our best."

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