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Lakewood Pops Cold-Shooting Pinellas Park

By LEE DIEKEMPER, Tribune correspondent

Published: February 24, 2008

PINELLAS PARK - The worst thing Pinellas Park could do against perennial state power Lakewood would be to have a bad night shooting.

The host Patriots (27-5), playing for their first state tournament berth in 17 years, picked the wrong night for that to happen.
Pinellas Park connected on just 14 of 55 field-goal attempts as Lakewood (25-3) ran away with a 60-34 victory in the Class 5A-Region 3 final Saturday at Pinellas Park in front of a sellout crowd of more than 1,700. Lakewood faces Brandon (24-4) at 8:30 Wednesday night in the final four in Lakeland.

"How great did they play?" Pinellas Park coach Allen Carden asked, trying to mask his disappointment.

They were good, even by Lakewood standards. For a team that has struggled at times this season shooting, the Spartans had no such difficulty Saturday. Combined with the Patriots' ice-cold shooting, it was a lethal combination.

The Spartans used a 21-2 run from late in the second quarter through much of the third to put the game out of reach. LaDarius Barnes had a pair of 3-pointers during the run, but it was Donnie Lane's steal and dunk that gave Lakewood a 40-17 lead.

"Our defense was killing them, which made easy points for our offense," Lakewood star Mike Morrison said. "We had to play our best because Pinellas Park is that good of a team."

"We were aggressive," Lakewood guard Reggie Reed said.

The teams split two earlier meetings: Lakewood won a regular-season game 59-56, while Pinellas Park won 53-44 for the Pinellas County Athletic Conference title.

Lakewood coach Dan Wright noted he had changed defensive assignments drastically in his man-to-man defense in order to try to gain an advantage. Carden insisted that wasn't a factor.

"Their kids just outplayed our kids," Carden said. "I don't think it had anything to do with coaching. I don't think it had anything to do with changing defenses. It had everything to do with their kids coming to play. We picked the worst night of the year to have the worst offensive output. It's a devastating loss."

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