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Boys Basketball: Blake Thumps Plant

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By NICK WILLIAMS

nwilliams@tampatrib.com

Published: January 10, 2009

TAMPA - The Blake boys basketball team's game plan was simple - limit Sheldon Cooley as best it could and shut down his teammates.

From Blake's point of view, the strategy worked to perfection as the Yellow Jackets beat Plant 76-59 in a Class 5A-District 10 game Friday night.

Cooley, Plant's all-time leading scorer, scored more than half his team's total points with a game-high 31, 19 of which came in the first half, including 10 of his team's 13 first-quarter points. The East Tennessee State-bound guard also had 12 rebounds.

"Cooley got tired," Blake coach Winston Davis said. "We tried to wear him down."

Sophomore guard Andre Smith led Blake (10-4, 5-2) with 21 points, three steals and four assists while senior Tyrell Anderson added 16 points.

"We ran three guys at Smith all night," Plant coach Mike Phillips said. "He was our focus. Andre did a great job."

Plant also struggled with Blake's post players in center Michael McFarland (6-foot-6) and power forward Montrey Pride (6-5). McFarland finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks while Pride added eight points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

Freshman guard Michael Frazier added 11 points for the Panthers (8-5, 5-2). Cooley played nearly the entire game.

Reporter Nick Williams can be reached at (813) 259-7851

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