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Region girls basketball: Fearless Hayes, Land O'Lakes play on

 
Hillsborough junior Trinity Baptiste eclipses the 1,000-point for her prep career and helps the Terriers to a 57-45 victory.
Hillsborough junior Trinity Baptiste eclipses the 1,000-point for her prep career and helps the Terriers to a 57-45 victory.
Published Feb. 11, 2015

LAND O'LAKES — It had already been a zany enough finish, so why not? Against conventional wisdom, with her team nursing a 44-42 lead against never-say-die Nature Coast, Jhade Hayes decided to step and attempt a 3-pointer.

With 30 seconds left.

"Honestly, it was a risk. I just shot it and hoped," she said.

It was a risk worth taking for Land O'Lakes. Hayes' shot swished through for a five-point advantage, and the Gators won a 49-44 thriller to advance to the Class 5A region final. The Gators will shoot for a second straight trip to the state semis when they host North Marion on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Land O'Lakes (27-3) overcame a remarkable performance by Rita Jarque, who had 22 rebounds — 15 on offense. Jarque's six points, all on putbacks, tied it at 27 in the third quarter but the Gators scored 13 of the next 15. They ended the third on two baskets by Makala Canada, who scored 21, and a putback by Gabby Mills at the horn.

Before Mills' rebound Nature Coast held an astonishing 24-2 advantage on the offensive glass, with 14 going to Jarque alone. Then little-used Gators freshman Lily Lazar came in and grabbed two herself, putting one back for a 38-29 lead right after Hayes had hit a big 3-pointer.

"I just had a gut feeling on Lily. She's tough and we needed that," Gators coach Phyllis Crain said.

After Land O'Lakes went ahead 42-32, the Sharks' Fatima Jones got the next eight, hitting two big 3-pointers. Lazar had a clutch jump shot to put the Gators up 44-40, then Jones' 10th point of the quarter made it 44-42.

Jones finished with a team-high 15 points. Latavea Sesler added 10 points, and Jarque finished with 12.

Canada scored 12 in the first quarter as the Gators jumped ahead by seven. It was 24-19 at halftime. Hayes scored 13 for the Gators and had nothing but praise for Jarque, a senior.

"I don't usually get pushed around, but she did. I love that girl," Hayes said.

6A: Baptiste, Terriers fend off Osceola

SEMINOLE — Khoi Wilson might have closed the deal for Hillsborough on Tuesday night, but Trinity Baptiste got the Terriers there.

The Terriers led Osceola by just one less than a minute into the fourth quarter of the Class 6A region semifinal. But Wilson, with the help of a Warrior turnover, scored back-to-back buckets early to pad the lead Hillsborough would hold until the end.

"That's what she do. She brings that to our team," Baptiste said after the Terriers' 57-45 win on the road. "We were having trouble with everyone else scoring …she stepped up."

For the first three quarters, though, it was almost all Baptiste.

The 6-foot junior — who surpassed the 1,000th career point mark in the second quarter and finished the game with 34 — was big around the basket all night, and her offensive rebounds and second-chance points kept the Terriers in the game despite a first half full of fouls and turnovers.

Her team didn't come ready to play, Baptiste said, so at halftime leading 34-28, the Terriers had to regroup mentally. Before the break, the Warriors wore them down with outside shots, sinking three 3-pointers.

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Hillsborough knew going in it had to watch out for senior guard Katie Horan, and the Terriers held her to just nine points in the first half, all in the second quarter. But when other Warriors started stepping up in her place, the Terriers adjusted on the fly.

"(Horan) is deadly, and she showed it," Hillsborough coach Babita Artabasy said. "They have a bunch of good shooters. I think that surprised our girls, because we knew No. 12, but when those other girls started stepping up and shooting, they were like, 'Oh, okay.' "

Osceola, led by Jamie Green's 15 points, came out hot after halftime, outscoring the Terriers 9-6 in the third quarter. Still, because of Baptiste's strong first half — she had 23 points before halftime, including 16 in the second quarter — Hillsborough clung tightly to a small lead.

Once Wilson's quick baskets padded that lead, Baptiste added another seven points, three from the free-throw line, for good measure. In all, Baptiste alone scored nearly 60 percent of the Terriers points. She'll likely be leaned on heavily Saturday, when the Terriers take on Naples Barron Collier for a chance at a final four berth.

Baptiste has a confidence, though, that makes that fact totally fine with her.

"I know how much time I put into it, so when I go to the line, I think every one is going in," said Baptiste, who made all eight free throws she took. "And every shot I take."

Kelly Parsons, Times staff writer

7A: Trouble for foes: Freedom 'peaking'

TAMPA — Taylor Emery grabbed her spot on the court and waited for the ball. She floated to the middle, sometimes seemingly out of nowhere, to snatch a pass and race in for an uncontested layup. She did this over and over Tuesday night.

Problem for Wiregrass Ranch was, those passes usually came from the Bull players.

For all the talk about Emery's prowess scoring baskets and Freedom's prolific offense, it's the defense that supercharges the Patriots. Behind eight steals and 39 points by Emery, and its usual stifling press, Freedom continued to roll, racing past the Bulls 62-43 and into a Class 7A region championship game.

The Patriots (26-2) have won 13 straight games and host Haines City on Saturday, looking to return to the state semifinals for the second time in three seasons.

Freedom was a semifinalist in 2013, but was bounced out of the playoffs in the district semifinals by the Bulls last season.

That was more than enough fuel for the Patriots, who beat the Bulls (23-8) for the fourth time this season. Wiregrass Ranch fell behind early in the second quarter 22-10 as 10 of the Freedom points were scored on Emery steals and layups. The Bulls, however, staged a rally to pull within 26-24 thanks to Amanda Melosky's 3-pointer with a minute left in the first half.

But with 14 seconds left, Freedom point guard Nari Garner answered with her own 3, then started the second half scoring with another swish from beyond the arc.

The Patriots went on to put the game away with a 14-2 run in the third quarter. Garner finished with 12 points and played a near-flawless game at the point.

"We go how Nari goes," coach Laurie Pacholke said. "When she runs the team like a true point guard, we're unstoppable. She's really grown into that role, and that's why as she is getting better, we are getting better. This team is peaking right now."

John C. Cotey, Times correspondent