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Playoff Basketball Roundup: King Boys Make History

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A Tribune staff report

Published: February 20, 2009

TAMPA - The King boys basketball team made history when the Lions defeated Land O' Lakes 51-44 in a Class 5A-Region 2 quarterfinal game Thursday.

The victory, which extended King's winning streak to 19, was the first playoff win in school history.

"It's awesome," Lions coach Sam Lanier said of the historic win. "This is something we've been working on for years here. Since the start of the season we've talked about wanting this to be a special year. The guys bought into that message and have made it happen."

It wasn't easy, however.

After King jumped to a 15-2 lead late in the first quarter, the Lions (21-6) watched Land O' Lakes methodically cut into its deficit and get back in the game.

The Gators (17-11) got to within one twice in the second half - 35-34 at the 2:01 mark of the third and 42-41 with 4:52 remaining - but could never take the lead.

Adrian Federick and Andrew Donaldson led King with 11 points apiece. The Gators were led by Sean Cooper's 16 points and Kevin Burnell's 10.

Gregg Becnel

Ridgewood Rolls Past Newsome

NEW PORT RICHEY - It didn't seem to matter where on the floor Ridgewood shooters let the ball release from their hand - it went in.

Inside drives. Outside jumpers.

Ridgewood easily moved past Newsome 71-36 in a Class 5A-Region 2 quarterfinal. Ridgewood (26-2) will travel to King on Tuesday.

"We just take whatever we get," Rams point guard Alvin Satram said. "I know if I drive, I have my big man to kick to. I have my guards outside, who can shoot. If not, I've got my open shot or I can always drive."

Satram torched the Wolves' defenders for 20 points.

Samal Shepherd led Newsome (20-6) with 19 points.

After re-establishing the lead, 20-17, entering the second period, Ridgewood ran away with the game. A sound dose of open jumpers by Charles Jones and drives and dishes from Satram allowed the Rams to outscore Newsome 21-4 in that period. Jones led all scorers with 22 points.

Eddie Daniels

Hillsborough Rallies Past Largo

Hillsborough climbed back from a halftime deficit to defeat Largo 69-55 in a Class 5A-Region 3 boys basketball quarterfinal Thursday.

The host Terriers (21-8) won their ninth straight game despite trailing by double digits in the second quarter and 31-28 at the half.

Hillsborough coach Andre Lewis said the key was to be patient. His team had been on a roll, Lewis said, and no one was about to panic.

"We were down but we weren't about to back down," Lewis said. "We had some jitters in the first half and we just had to turn it on in the second half."

Largo (23-6) jumped out to a quick start and led 15-2 late in the first quarter before Hillsborough started to close the gap. Michael Jimerson led the Terriers with 19 points while Alvon Woodard and Juan Washington combined for 24. Largo was led by Khari Armstrong who scored 14 points to lead the Packers.

"We don't have any superstars on this team," Jimerson said.

Jeff Berlinicke

No. 1 Clearwater Dumps Blake

CLEARWATER - Okaro White scored with a thundering dunk to finish off top-ranked Clearwater's 68-45 Class 5A-Region 3 win against Blake (20-8) Thursday.

The host Tornadoes (25-3) simply overpowered the Yellow Jackets, outscoring the visitors 17-7 in the second quarter.

Regan O'Rourke, a four-year starter, led the Tornadoes with 19 points. He scored eight in the opening period as the home team took the early lead. White scored 14 and Julien Sargent put in eight. Andre Smith paced Blake with 17 points. Montrey Pride scored nine for the Jackets.

"We played excellent defense tonight, especially in the second half," said first-year Clearwater coach Allen Carden. "We have used at least 10 players each game all year."

Mike Moore

Boca Ciega Rallies For Win

ST. PETERSBURG - The host Pirates came up with two critical steals in the waning seconds of their Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinal Thursday against North Port, rallying for a 65-64 win.

With 18 seconds left in the game and North Port leading 64-63, Boca Ciega guard Richard Prince stole a pass and raced in for a bucket. On the ensuing possession, Myron Dempsey blocked a shot with 4.5 seconds left. North Port got the ball right back but Dempsey batted down a pass to end the game.

"He telegraphed it," Prince said of his defensive gem that led to the winning basket. "I just got the ball and it was instinct; reaction; adrenaline. I couldn't hear anyone. I just played ball."

Boca Ciega's comeback wasted a great game by USF recruit Shaun Noriega, who scored 29 points with four 3-pointers.

Lee Diekemper

Russo Hits Key 3 To Lift Hudson

GROVELAND - Guard Chris Russo fired in a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left as Hudson (20-9) completed a comeback with a 64-62 Class 4A-Region 2 quarterfinal win against South Lake.

Russo led all scorers with 23 points. The 5-foot-10 junior had 10 points in the fourth quarter. After Russo's score, Jarrod Branco hit a free throw to ice the game with less than a second left. Branco had 22 points.

South Lake (18-11) led 37-25 at halftime and 50-39 after the third quarter. Hudson scored 25 points in the final quarter to win the game. Russo's 3 gave Hudson its first lead since early in the first quarter.

Hudson helped itself by making 12 of 16 free-throw attempts.

Larry Bugg

Venice Finally Tops Lakewood

VENICE - Venice didn't have to be reminded about the 32-point, season-ending losses to Lakewood the past two years. But they were anyway.

Jumping out to an early lead, Venice (26-3) won a regional game for the first time since 1951, when the school was known as Venice-Nokomis. The Indians pinned a 57-40 defeat on the Spartans in the Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinals Thursday night.

Venice's Clay Burton scored a game-high 18 points.

The Spartans (23-6) hit just one of their first 17 shots from the floor.

Dennis Maffezzoli

Berkeley Prep Gets Revenge

The Berkeley Prep had a little motivation entering Thursday's Class 3A-Region 3 quarterfinal. Fort Myers Dunbar defeated the Bucs in the quarterfinals last season.

"It took me months to get rid of the knot in my stomach," Berkeley Prep coach Bobby Reinhart said.

With the memory of last year's loss in mind, Berkeley dominated Dunbar 61-38 to advance to Tuesday's semifinal against Fort Myers Bishop Verot.

Seniors Johnathan Gray, Austin Suarez and Christian Reintgen combined for 56 of Berkeley's points.

"There was a lot of experience on the floor," Reinhart said. "It was nice to see them have a game like that in a situation like this."

"I just wanted to be aggressive," said Gray, who had a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds.

Nick Williams

Verot Ousts Tampa Catholic

FORT MYERS - Senior guard Brennan Melvin had game highs of 26 points and 15 rebounds to lead Fort Myers Bishop Verot (21-8) to a 65-47 victory against Tampa Catholic in a Class 3A-Region 3 quarterfinal.

Tampa Catholic (9-19), which has no seniors on its roster, weathered some early nerves and grabbed a 22-20 lead with 2:27 left in the second quarter.

The Crusaders closed the third quarter on a 9-2 run to pull to within 42-39 entering the fourth, but a 19-5 spurt put the game away.

Dan DeLuca

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