District Basketball Semifinals End in Nailbighters

If the first round of the boys district 5A-8 basketball tournament at Newsome was a bit boring, the second round made up for it. In the opener, the fourth seed Tampa Bay Tech Titans fought Plant City to a 31-31 tie at half-time. In the fourth quarter the Titans surged ahead and took a 9 point lead at 51-42. To Plant City's credit, they did not give up, and clawed their way back in by fouling to stop the clock and shooting their way back in. In the end, TBT prevailed 58-55 behind an outstanding team effort. They were led in scoring by LaCarlton Nelson with 16. Darryl Richardson added 14 and Allen Covington chipped in 12.

In the nightcap, Newsome jumped out to a ten nothing lead on the Durant Cougars and maintained that ten point margin at halftime, 30-20 and stretched the lead to 15 early in the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, however, Andre Nation - who had been held to four points in the first half - exploded for 18 points and pulled the Cougars back to within one point with a few seconds left in the game. Durant had a final chance down by two with 1.2 seconds. Coach Mackey waited to see the Cougars plans, called timeout and drew up a defensive play with the result that Jake Hodges stole the inbound pass to seal a 60-58 victory.

Samal Shepherd played an outstanding game, scoring 18 points and just owning loose balls, most of which were loosened up by his feverishly quick hands. Hodges added 14 points and 13 rebounds, Jamel Gist 9 and Trent Mackey put in 6 on a pair of threes. Dylan Bridges contributed 7, Cody Dowd 2, and LaCorte Suber 4. All around the Wolves played an excellent game as did the Cougars, who were led by Nation with 24, Jordan Mitchell with 12, and Jeff Thomas with 8.

Tampa Bay Tech will face off with the Wolves tonight at 7:00 in the Wolves den. This Titans team is one that has shown as much improvement during the course of this season as any team in ths area. After losing big to Newsome in a November preseason game, they lost by only 14 on December 16. On January 22, the Titans defeated Newsome 69-59. You can expect that their team, their coach and their fans will be ready tonight as they challenge the Wolves for the district championship.

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