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Tampa Prep Advances

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A Tribune staff report

Published: February 25, 2009

TAMPA - The faster, quicker kids from Tampa Prep ran to an early lead and never looked back against Indian Rocks Christian in Tuesday night's Class 2A-Region 3 semifinal victory, 71-47.

"We knew coming in that Tampa Prep was faster and more physical," IRC coach Joe Frost said. "I told our guys we had to make six, seven, maybe eight 3-pointers to give ourselves a chance."

Most of the trouble came from Tampa Prep's relentless defense, which time and again picked the Eagles clean and ran away for a breakaway layup, most often released from Terrapin freshman Devonte Morgan, who had a game-high 17 points.

Terrapins Jay Bowie and Jamal Cherry were next with 16 and 14 points apiece, with many of those coming off steals and breakaways.

"I have to say that we did a great job defensively," Tampa Prep coach Joe Fenlon said. "We kept our intensity high and this is the time to do it because this is playoff time. No time to let up."

The next step for Tampa Prep (25-4) is Saturday's region final at the Community School of Naples, which defeated Admiral Farragut 48-43.

"Hopefully we can take care of business in Naples and give ourselves a chance at a state title," Fenlon said. "But right now, honestly, our only concern is our next game. That's it."

Scott Purks

Berkeley Prep Loses, 53-50

FORT MYERS - Trailing by 14 points entering the fourth quarter of Tuesday's Class 3A-Region 3 quarterfinal against Bishop Verot, the Berkeley Prep boys basketball team could have easily decided a win just wasn't in the cards.

Instead, the Buccaneers (23-6) roared back behind senior sharpshooter Johnathan Gray and nearly stunned the Vikings, before falling 53-50.

"Down by 14 and to come back and tie it, I'm proud of our kids," Berkeley coach Bobby Reinhart said. "They showed a lot of heart. We had a couple of chances but we didn't get the good looks we had been getting."

Gray, who scored a game-high 22 points, keyed a 20-8 run by the Buccaneers with a trio of 3-pointers, the last of which cut the Berkeley deficit to 48-46 with 3:35 remaining.

"John Gray is a great player," Bishop Verot coach Matt Herting said. "I thought we did a good job on him the whole game. Some of the shots he hit, they were remarkable shots."

Dan Deluca

Hudson Dumped By Springstead

SPRING HILL - The Rubik's Cube that is the Springstead basketball team remains unsolved.

Hudson was the latest attempting to come up with a solution, but the Eagles quelled that effort in a 72-49 Class 4A-Region 2 semifinals victory.

Springstead (29-0) used its athleticism to outrebound Hudson (20-9), giving itself two or three attempts at a basket. However, the final score was not indicative of the bulk of Tuesday night's matchup.

Hudson was led by senior guard Jarrod Branco's 19 points.

"They were just better," Hudson coach Jason Vetter said. "When you lose four times to somebody, they're just better. ... We've thrown everything we possibly can at them. Every offense, defense we have. We made tons of adjustments each game we've done something different."

Eddie Daniels
Admiral Farragut Ousted, 48-43

NAPLES - The Admiral Farragut (16-10) boys basketball team was the victim of a questionable call that helped cost them a shot at victory in their Class 2A-Region 3 semifinal game with the Community School of Naples on Tuesday.

Junior guard Montana Brown was called for a carry in the backcourt with seven seconds left and his team trailing by three.

Brown then fouled out on the ensuing play when he hacked Mitch Woods, who knocked down free throws to seal the 48-43 victory for the Seahawks (23-4).

"He dribbles like that for four quarters," Blue Jackets coach L. Shannon Graves said. "The ref made the call.

"It didn't cost us the game. We were tentative in the first half and didn't take advantage of our size advantage down low."

Brown led the Blue Jackets with 15 points, while fellow junior Patrick LeBranch added nine points. LeBranch made a putback with 11.3 seconds that cut the Seahawk lead to 45-43 but that was the last basket of the season for Admiral Farragut.

Carl Bleich

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