Girls basketball: Wharton, Plant set to meet in 6A-8 final

Top-seeded Wharton and No. 2 Plant will meet tonight for the Class 6A-District 8 girls basketball championship after the Wildcats and Panthers won their semifinal games Friday.

Wharton and Plant had little trouble on their way to wins, as the Wildcats defeated No. 4 Alonso 57-19 and the Panthers beat No. 3 Bloomingdale 54-30.

Wharton swept the two regular-season meetings with Plant, winning by nine and three points.

Wildcats freshmen Jaitesha Hanson and Shayla Cooper led the way Friday by scoring 17 and 16 points, respectively. Wharton (20-4) scored 24 consecutive points during one stretch of the first half on its way to a 38-11 lead at the break.

The Wildcats got scoring from eight players. Freshman Quatasia Fantroy led Alonso with seven points.

Plant (16-7) also spread around its scoring, as nine Panthers registered points. Junior Kaitlyn Brady and sophomore Kelly Brennan paced Plant with 12 points apiece. Leading scorer Michelle Taylor, who went in averaging 16.3 points per game, struggled to find her shot and finished with seven points.

The Panthers never trailed and used a suffocating pressure defense to cause countless Bloomingdale turnovers that led to easy baskets for Plant. The Panthers led 8-5 late in the first quarter but used an 18-7 run to go into the half with a 26-12 lead.

Gregg Becnel

Class 5A-District 8

GIBSONTON - Tampa Bay Tech and Durant, the top seeds in Class 5A-District 8, advanced to tonight's championship with convincing wins in the semifinals at East Bay.

Tech, the No. 1 seed, defeated fifth-seeded Newsome 65-42. Durant beat Plant City 54-41.

Tech (21-3) led 31-13 at the half, sparked by junior guard Dasia Daniels' 14 first-half points. Daniels led all scorers with 19 points, along with five rebounds and three assists.

Sophomore Dasha Christopher added 12 points and senior Courtney Jenkins finished with 10. Kelsey Rodriguez and Ilana Aramati each scored 11 points for Newsome (11-11).

Junior guard Taylor Broadnax led Durant (17-7) with 16 points and four steals. Senior guard Jade Forte, Plant City's leading scorer, picked up her fourth foul with 5:50 left in the second quarter and the score tied at 10. With Forte on the bench, Durant went on a 12-2 run to end the half with a 22-12 lead.

Senior Michelle Sanders led Plant City (8-13) with 18 points, and Forte ended with 13. Ashley Nelson added 13 points for Durant.

Nick Williams

Class 5A-District 9

Hillsborough coach Yolanda Whitehead Driskell found a game plan that worked against Freedom during a 63-39 upset victory at Sickles on Friday.

The Terriers (18-6) advanced to play against Sickles, a 62-36 winner against Gaither, in tonight's Class 5A-District 9 title game.

In Hillsborough's two previous losses against Freedom (19-6), Driskell was unsure how to slow the Patriots. The Terriers tried to press their opponent before losing a lopsided game in their first contest. In the second meeting, Hillsborough was losing with the same defensive plan before switching to a zone defense at halftime. The Terriers lost by only six, but Driskell knew she stumbled onto something.

Hillsborough focused on shutting down Freedom junior guard Shaunice Hobbs with its zone defense, a strategy that worked in the first quarter. Hobbs scored seven points in that period, and although she scored a team-high 17, Hillsborough's defense shut down most of Freedom's players.

Hillsborough was led by junior guard Cassandra Nevarez, who made five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 21 points. Jasmine Hammond added 15.

Meanwhile, Sickles standout Amber Henson scored a game-high 25 points in a lopsided game that resulted in a running clock during the fourth quarter.

Anwar S. Richardson

Class 4A-District 7

NEW PORT RICHEY - Top seeds Gulf and Wesley Chapel, who split their regular-season series, will face each other tonight in the Class 4A-District 7 final after romping to easy victories against Hudson and Mitchell, respectively.

The Buccaneers (21-5) scored the first 11 points and never trailed en route to a 63-13 win against the Cobras, while the Wildcats (20-2) pulled away in the second half against the Mustangs and won 50-32.

After Wesley Chapel star Shantel Houston (11 points) picked up three fouls in the first four minutes, Coach Karim Nohra sat Houston for the rest of the half and was not pleased with his team's effort without her. Hannah Noble had 12 points, pacing the offense without her. But after Houston returned, the Wildcats held Mitchell without a field goal for more than eight minutes during an 11-0 run.

Gulf captain Nicole Adams (15 points) injured her knee in the second half, and although she continued to play, Coach Mike Quarto was unsure of her status for tonight. Kianna Mills (14 points) and Leighlani Paselio (12 points) were dominant inside for the Bucs.

Bart O'Connell

Class 4A-District 8

WESLEY CHAPEL - After the first quarter Friday night, Wiregrass Ranch didn't know what to make of its Class 4A-District 8 semifinal game against Citrus. The No. 1-seeded Bulls, who averaged 55 points per game coming in, were down 4-3.

"We had wide-open shots, they just weren't falling," Wiregrass coach Dave Finkel said.

Eventually, thanks to a 14-2 run in the third quarter, the Bulls (20-6) got on track, defeating the No. 5-seeded Hurricanes 40-33 to advance to their second straight district final tonight at 7.

The Bulls will face No. 3 Lecanto (18-5), which upset No. 2 Nature Coast 55-45 in the first semifinal.

The Bulls were led by leading scorer Kelly McCaffrey, who had a game-high 12 points. Kayla Deloach added 10.

Wiregrass made only one of 13 3-point attempts.

Mike Camunas

Class 4A-District 9

Steinbrenner discovered what a lot of other teams in the county learned throughout the regular season: It's tough to score on Jefferson's stingy defense.

The Dragons opened Friday night's game with 21 straight points en route to a 64-11 victory in the Class 4A-District 9 semifinals.

Jefferson set a pace the Warriors couldn't keep up with, as Steinbrenner didn't score until freshman guard Lauren Stemm hit a jumper at the buzzer to end the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Dragons outscored the Warriors 26-6 by getting help from their bench, including two 3-pointers by sophomore forward Hemasarada Gude and another by sophomore guard Halle Graham.

With a running clock in the second half, Jefferson held Steinbrenner scoreless in the third quarter. Dragons starting forward Chantrell Frazier scored seven of her team-high 15 points to open the third.

Jefferson will play Spoto in the district championship game tonight at 7. The Spartans made school history with their 46-29 victory against Blake in the other semifinal game, guaranteeing them a spot in the postseason for the first time.

Spoto held Blake to five points in the third quarter to take a 16-point lead.

Katherine Smith