TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Girls Basketball: Tampa Prep, IRC Reach District Final

ADVERTISEMENT

By KATHERINE SMITH

ksmith@tampatrib.com

Published: February 6, 2009

TAMPA - Tampa Prep and Indian Rocks Christian split their regular-season meetings. Tonight they'll meet for the third time to determine the Class 2A-District 9 champion.

Tampa Prep advanced to the title game with a 62-27 victory against Bishop McLaughlin. The Terrapins built a 23-point lead in the first quarter, paced by senior guard Ayala Wasser's eight-consecutive points to open the game.

Bishop McLaughlin didn't score until senior Kristen Pawlowski made a layup with 1:10 remaining in the first quarter.

"Before every game, we talk about coming out strong and enjoying the moment," Wasser said. "We wanted to come out and set the tone early."

The Terrapins closed out the game with an 11-2 run in the fourth quarter. Wasser led her team with 31 points, including four three-pointers. Pawlowski led Bishop McLaughlin with 16 points.

Just like Tampa Prep, Indian Rocks Christian built a big first half lead in its 61-20 victory against Calvary Christian.

The Golden Eagles led 43-6 at the half. They closed out the second quarter with 17-consecutive points, including five three pointers, two by senior Courtney St. Louis and three by sophomore Rachel Burnett.

St. Louis, one of four Golden Eagles to score in double digits, led with a game-high 19 points. Burnett and Tori Trador each added 14 points.

CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 11: Fourth-seeded Canterbury upset No. 1 seed Citrus Park Christian 49-39 in the district tournament semifinals.

The Crusaders (6-11) had lost twice in the regular season to the Eagles (8-12), and trailed 9-2 after the first quarter. They took a 16-14 halftime lead, stretched it to 34-21 by the end of the third, and held on for the win. Canterbury got 11 points each from Browyn Gairing and Catherine Jones. Citrus Park's Mady Kaplan led all scorers with 21 points.

The Crusaders will face host Lakeside Christian, which won 38-30 against No. 2 seed Academy at the Lakes (6-7).

Ashley Laramee took over the game for the third-seed Lions (9-8), scoring 19 of her 23 points in the second half to lead Lakeside to victory.

Mike Moore

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT