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Girls basketball: Clearwater, Northeast advance to final

 
Published Feb. 3, 2017

GULFPORT — The top two seeds in Class 7A, District 9 advanced to tonight's district tournament final, but both teams had to work hard to get there.

Top seed Clearwater struggled with fourth-seed Osceola's 2-3 defense for most of its semifinal game before getting hot late and defeating the Warriors 48-26.

Second seed Northeast trailed third seed Boca Ciega at halftime before a big third quarter propelled the Vikings to a 45-31 win.

That sets up the championship game at Boca Ciega. Clearwater (19-5) defeated Northeast (16-10) in both regular season games by an average of 22 points.

The Tornadoes had a hard time getting their fast break offense moving against the stingy Warriors. They only led 6-4 after the first quarter, and that was thanks to 3-pointers from Alleyah Williams and Alex Hannah. Osceola hung in there and with 1:25 left in the second quarter it cut the lead to 18-15 on a Payton Hill three-pointer.

Clearwater's lead was only 22-15 at halftime. That deficit quickly shrunk to 22-20 when Libby Rogers hit two jumpers and a free throw. From there, the Tornadoes, and especially Lexie McDuffy, got going. Hannah hit a 3-pointer, followed by three straight 3-pointers from McDuffy to blow the lead out to 34-20. Overall, the Tornadoes went on a 14-0 run that proved to be the difference.

McDuffy finished with 16 points, all in the second half.

"I told (McDuffy) at halftime that she needed to start shooting," Clearwater coach Paul Lang said. "She's our best shooter."

Osceola (10-8) was led by Hill, who had 14 points.

Both Northeast and Boca Ciega had a hard time scoring in the first half. The Pirates (7-8) led Northeast 17-15 at halftime. But the Vikings took off in the third quarter. With seven minutes to go in the third, Ashley Taylor drained a jumper for a 20-19 lead. That started an 8-0 run that included another basket by Taylor and a layup from Bailey Milligan.

Emily Joseph, who had a game high 18 points, hit two three-pointers late in the quarter, including one at the buzzer to make it 36-26.

While Northeast couldn't find its rhythm in the fourth quarter, its defense took over and held Boca Ciega to just five points. LaDajah Brown led the Pirates with 12 points.

"Our seniors stepped up at halftime and said that if we lose, make it because we tried too hard and were being too aggressive," Northeast coach Will White said. "The team responded in the third quarter with that kind of energy and that's what it's all about."