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Boys Basketball Roundup: Lions, Wolves Make Final

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A Tribune staff report

Published: February 14, 2009

VALRICO - Newsome and King, the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the Class 5A-District 8 boys basketball tournament, clinched playoff berths and will meet in the district championship tonight at 7 at Bloomingdale after advancing in dramatic fashion Friday.

The district champion and runner-up advance to the region playoffs.

Georgia Southern-bound senior forward Toarlyn Fitzpatrick finished with 11 points, 19 rebounds and three steals, while junior guard Rethell Oliver had 12 points to lead King to a 60-52 come-from-behind win against host Bloomingdale.

The Lions (19-6) led 40-24 with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter when Bloomingdale went on a five minute 21-0 run, highlighted by three 3-point baskets by senior forward Sean Rooks and two technical fouls on King.

The Lions, however, responded with an 18-3 run during the final five minutes of the fourth-quarter run to take a double-digit lead and clinch its first district championship appearance since 2003, the last year King won a title.

Senior forward Joe Raga led Bloomingdale with 17 points.

Newsome (20-4) also clinched its first trip to the playoffs with a 67-49 win against Tampa Bay Tech. In the six-year history of the school, the Wolves had never reached the district title game.

After trailing by six at halftime, junior forward Samal Shepherd scored 11 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter to lead Newsome in a 23-8 run.

Nick Williams

Land O' Lakes, Ridgewood Win

LAND O' LAKES - The solitary Land O' Lakes fan urging Gators shooter Denzel Gordon to flub his second free-throw attempt with 18 seconds left in the Class 5A-District 7 semifinals against Central likely didn't sit well with Land O' Lakes coach Dave Puhalski.

Gordon obliged, following the miss with a rebound, a successful putback and was fouled again. The 3-point play gave the Gators a five-point cushion and led to their 64-60 win.

Land O' Lakes (17-9) will face Ridgewood, an 80-25 winner against River Ridge, for the district title tonight at 7. Ridgewood (23-2) sailed into the final after building a 46-11 advantage with 15 seconds left in the first half, inducing the running clock. Alvin Satram led the Rams with 23 points.

Gordon's two free throws with 47 seconds left gave Land O' Lakes a 59-57 advantage. Central (9-17) missed a layup with 21 seconds left, and on the rebound, Gordon was fouled, putting him back on the line.

Central's Darryn Frazier, who collected 16 of his 30 points in the second half, buried a 3-pointer with nine seconds left, cutting the Bears' deficit to 63-60.

Eddie Daniels

Blake To Face Hillsborough

TAMPA - Blake blew a 16-point second-half lead, but sophomore guard Andre Smith's running 3-pointer at the end of regulation sent the game into overtime and the Yellow Jackets pulled away in the extra session to defeat Plant 82-74 in a Class 5A-District 10 semifinal Friday.

Blake (20-6) will play Hillsborough, a 55-51 winner against Chamberlain, in tonight's championship.

Plant's Sheldon Cooley scored a game-high 32 points, including two free throws with 2.8 seconds remaining to give the Panthers a 68-65 lead.

But Smith took the inbounds pass, dribbled downcourt and let loose a shot as he approached the top of the key. The ball went in off the backboard as the buzzer sounded, sending the Blake bench into a wild celebration and the game into overtime.

"I was wanting the ball in my hands," said Smith, who finished with 31 points. "I was hoping it would go in because it felt good when it left my hand. I didn't call bank, though."

In the other semifinal, Tarean Austin and Ravon Bullard scored 14 and 10 points, respectively, to lead Hillsborough (19-8) to the win.

Gregg Becnel

Lakewood, Boca Ciega Make Final

ST. PETERSBURG - Lakewood defeated Gibbs 72-58 and Boca Ciega beat Seminole 66-44 in the Class 5A-District 11 semifinals Friday at Lakewood, where the winners will meet in tonight's final.

"The game plan was to play defense and execute on offense," explained Boca Ciega guard Mosley Bryce, who led the Pirates with 19 points. "We came out with the victory, and I'm ready for tomorrow."

He was followed by fellow senior forward teammate Julius Forte, who recently signed with USF. "We came out and did what we were supposed to do early," Forte said, adding that "The second half we didn't play was well as we wanted to, but we still ended up pretty strong."

In his 33rd year as Spartans coach, Daniel Wright said his team allowed too many turnovers, "and we gave up too many dribble penetration baskets, but we kind of expected the outcome." He pointed to good bench play from Bernard Reedy and Mike Singleton.

"Tonight was going to be a battle," he concluded. "It always is when Lakewood and Bogie play."

Steve Sims

Henson Powers Sickles To Win

NEW PORT RICHEY - In a sense, John Henson finally broke out of his shell Friday night.

With his team struggling offensively, the 6-foot-10 Sickles star decided it was time to lift his team. Henson put on a show for the crowd at Mitchell for the Class 6A-District 7 semifinal against the host squad. Henson scored 10 points in the final eight minutes, one of his five buckets coming on a behind-the-back dunk off a rebound to help give Sickles a 54-32 win.

The victory guaranteed the Gryphons a spot in regional play next week.

"I felt like, you have to do that sometimes," Henson said of how he took over the game. "We were struggling from the perimeter. But we were able to get it inside, and that made the difference."

Sickles will face St. Petersburg tonight for the district title. The Green Devils needed overtime to put away Countryside 71-60, thanks in large part to Allen Wilson. The junior scored eight of St. Petersburg's 14 points in overtime.

Lee Diekemper

Durant, Plant City Eliminated

PLANT CITY - Sarasota Riverview sank 14 of 20 free throws in the fourth quarter while draining three 3-point shots in a 69-53 win against host Durant in the Class 6A-District 8 boys basketball semifinals.

In the first game, No. 1 seed Lakeland easily handled Plant City, 62-46. Lakeland was paced by Quinton Everett (22 points) and Richie Edwards, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half while blocking two shots and breaking the press many times.

Plant City was led by Chris Smith (12 points) and Alton Honors (11).

In the second game, Riverview took over against Durant in the second half, when it shut down the Cougars' two top scorers from the first half and hit 11 of 20 shots.

Durant was led by Andre Nation and Aaron Garden, who each scored 12.

Barry Carroll

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