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East Lake boys pull away after a tight first half vs. Clearwater

Note to opponents: Don’t guard Dionte Blanch one-on-one.
 
East Lake's Dionte Blanch, pictured here during the Sun Bash, scores 28 Tuesday night against Clearwater.
East Lake's Dionte Blanch, pictured here during the Sun Bash, scores 28 Tuesday night against Clearwater. [ DIRK SHADD | Tampa Bay Times ]
Published Jan. 8, 2020

EAST LAKE — This past weekend, East Lake and Clearwater won their respective brackets at the Sun Bash boys basketball tournament. On Tuesday night, the teams met in a pivotal matchup that likely will decide the North Division representative in the Pinellas County Athletic Conference championship game.

Tuesday’s game was tight, for at least a half. Every time the Eagles would go on a run, the Tornadoes would answer. Clearwater even took the lead in the second quarter thanks to a pair of Max Jones 3-pointers.

East Lake’s offense, which piles up points at a frenetic pace, was stymied through two quarters. That was due in large part to the Eagles’ biggest playmaker, Dionte Blanch, picking up two early fouls.

Having to take a somewhat cautious approach, Blanch had just eight points at the half. But East Lake continues to show that it is more than just one player and went into the half with a 24-22 lead.

Related: High school boys basketball rankings for Tampa Bay

In the second half, Blanch was unleashed. No longer worrying about foul trouble, the Murray State signee continuously drove to the basket to lead the Eagles to a 73-55 victory.

Blanch ended up with 20 points in the second half and led all scorers with 28. Nearly all of those came on layups, including four times where he drew a foul and nailed the free throw to complete the three-point play.

The other reason Blanch had the green light to go in the lane had to do with the way the Tornadoes were guarding him.

"It's honestly one of the first times we've had single coverage on Dionte," Eagles coach Britt Taylor said. "It's hard to run anything but clear out when they're going to guard him one-on-one. His eyes just kind of lit up."

After beating three teams ranked in their respective classifications at the Sun Bash, East Lake moved up to No. 1 in Class 6A and No. 4 overall in the state. The Eagles (12-0) remained unbeaten with Tuesday’s win.

Clearwater (9-2), meanwhile, had its six-game win streak snapped. Jones led the Tornadoes with 20 points.