TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Clearwater Gets Past Pinellas Park

ADVERTISEMENT

By LEE DIEKEMPER, Tribune correspondent

Published: January 19, 2008

PINELLAS PARK - Sophomore forward Okaro White's tip-in of a Luke Loucks miss with 39 seconds left gave Clearwater a 45-44 win against Pinellas Park on Friday night. The loss was the Patriots' first of the season against a Pinellas County team.

With Pinellas Park up 44-43, Loucks missed a shot in front of the basket, and the ball bounced off the right side of the rim. White raced in from the baseline and had a clear path to the bucket.

The play summed up Pinellas Park's night. The Patriots began racking up fouls in the second half, and 6-foot-9 center Jacob Troyli fouled out seconds before the final play.

Adam Pegg missed his two free throws, but without Troyli Pinellas Park could not get the rebound on the second attempt, setting up White's winning play.

"That was pretty big, because Troyli got some rebounds even though we were trying to box him out," White said. "We were able to pump-fake him a little, which got him into foul trouble and we were able to get him out of the game."

Clearwater (15-1) and Pinellas Park (15-3) are tied atop the Class 5A-District 9 race.

Friday's game unfolded perfectly for Clearwater. Pinellas Park thrives on solid shooting, but was cold in the early going. Clearwater was able to use its strong frontcourt and control the rebounds on the defensive end.

Clearwater also stayed out of foul trouble, enabling the Tornadoes to remain in tight man-to-man defense that forced a critical turnover when the Patriots were trying to burn the clock.

A pair of Troyli free throws put Pinellas Park up 44-41 with 1:47 left, capping an 11-2 Patriots run that began with a 3-pointer from Jesse Woods.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT