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King To Face Land O' Lakes In Alonso Final

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By SCOTT PURKS, Tribune correspondent

Published: January 5, 2008

TAMPA - The semifinals of Friday's Alonso Holiday Classic were a relative breeze for the winners, King and Land O' Lakes, though each won with different styles.

King, primarily feeding to its low-post strength, won in its typical, relatively deliberate style, defeating Hardee 63-50. Land O' Lakes, meantime, pushed the tempo, pulling away in its typical fast-paced fashion over Palm Harbor, 82-56.

On Friday, King (7-3) had to beat a Hardee team that plays a similar low-post style, which proved difficult until the third quarter, when King went on a 17-7 run.

Ultimately, forwards Toarlyn Fitzpatrick and Antoine Gardner came strong, finishing with 11 and 10 points while shutting down Hardee's post players, Mark St. Fort and Arnold Louis, on the defensive end in the second half.

In Friday's nightcap, Land O' Lakes (13-2) struggled shooting in the first half, converting only two of 14 from beyond the 3-point line, a fact that led to the close halftime score, Land O' Lakes leading 34-31.

In the second half, the Gators swung more into their tempo, converting five of nine 3-point shots and making a much higher percentage around the basket. Jerome Harrison led Land O' Lakes with 20 points as four Gators finished in double figures.

"We like to push it," Land O' Lakes coach Dave Puhalski said. "Things started clicking in tonight's second half for us and everybody got involved."

RIDGEWOOD, GAITHER TAKE WINS: Ridgewood won in a rout, and Gaither had an easy time as the two teams won the final two games of the Ram Classic held at Ridgewood High.

Ridgewood eased past Miami Archbishop Carroll 72-31 as every player scored for the Rams.

Gaither beat Wiregrass Ranch 59-48. The Cowboys held a 48-29 third-quarter lead before Wiregrass rallied against the Gaither reserves.

Lee Diekemper

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