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Region girls basketball: Countryside 62, Tampa Bay Tech 57

 
Tampa Bay Tech guard Eriyana Saffold (10) tries to shoot a basket past Countryside center Jaia Jackson (12) during the Class 8A girls basketball regional quarterfinal between Tampa Bay Tech and Countryside at Countryside High School in Clearwater on Thursday, February 9, 2017.
Tampa Bay Tech guard Eriyana Saffold (10) tries to shoot a basket past Countryside center Jaia Jackson (12) during the Class 8A girls basketball regional quarterfinal between Tampa Bay Tech and Countryside at Countryside High School in Clearwater on Thursday, February 9, 2017.
Published Feb. 10, 2017

CLEARWATER — Countryside won its first regional playoff game since 1993, but it wasn't without a few anxious moments. The Cougars had an 11 point lead late in the third quarter against Tampa Bay Tech, gave it all up in the fourth quarter and then hit clutch shots in the final minutes to pull out a 62-57 win on Thursday.

Countryside (16-6) will host Palm Harbor University on Tuesday in a Class 8A region semifinal. It will be the fourth meeting this season between the schools. The Titans end their season 15-14.

"I think we showed our nerves a little bit there in the fourth quarter," Countryside coach Anthony Klemmer said. "We've gotten better, but we're still a team that is learning how to win. This is all new to us."

Countryside showed no sign of nerves for most of the game. The game was tied at 7 in the first quarter when the Cougars went on a 10-0 run. Alexis Taglieri hit a layup, Delanie Gibbons followed with a five-footer, Jaia Jackson made a layup and November Morten hit two layups to start the second quarter. The lead stayed about the same for the rest of the quarter and Countryside led 27-18 at halftime.

The third quarter was more of the same. In the final three minutes, the Cougars led 41-30 and looked in control. The score was 44-34 at the end of the third quarter. Then the Titans started chipping away.

They went on a 5-0 to start the fourth quarter and had a 13-4 spurt that cut Countryside's lead to 48-45. Shannon Lise, who finished with 13 points, had six points in the run. When Logan Wilson hit a layup with 3:09 left, the game was tied at 49.

With just over a minute left, the Titans took their first lead at 53-51 when Lise made a short jumper. Then Countryside calmed down. Taglieri hit two free throws to tie the game. Morten then made a steal, got fouled and hit a free throw. And with 53 seconds left, Morten made a 3-pointer to make it 58-53. That was enough breathing room to close out the game.

"I think November's steal kind of calmed us down," Klemmer said. "That and her 3-pointer. I was saying 'No, No, Yes!' "

Morten led all scorers with 24 points. She hit 12 of 15 free throws. Taglieri added 20 points, including 11 of 13 free throws. Janae Thomas and Auryel Perkins each had 10 points for Tampa Bay Tech.

"There were some nerves there," Taglieri said. "We were trying to keep the ball in me and November's hands because we were feeling the free throws. We were getting a little nervous but we knew we had to close it out."