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Tornadoes Blow Through Hurricanes For Title

TORNADOES 57, HURRICANES 28

Eric Horchy/SUNCOAST

Palm Harbor guard Sharee Booze looks for an opening amongst three Clearwater defenders.

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By Eric Horchy | The Suncoast News

Published: February 7, 2009

CLEARWATER - During the regular season, Clearwater rolled through Class 5A, District 9 play with a perfect 12-0 record and won each of those games by an average of nearly 44 points.

No surprise, the Tornadoes (26-2) commandingly won its third-straight district title Saturday night by taking care of Palm Harbor University, 57-28.

Guards J'Beria Davis and Victoria Ryan led the way for Clearwater, scoring 23 and 14 points, respectively.

To the Hurricanes credit, the 29-point differential was the first time any District 5A-9 foe kept the margin of defeat against Clearwater below 30. PHU (14-12) did manage to whittle the Tornadoes' lead down to single digits with about 1 minute left in the first half. Sharee Booze's slashing layup tightened the score to 24-16, but that would be as close as things would get.

Clearwater's overall size and tenacity down low, notably on the offensive glass, frustrated the Hurricanes all night and led to multiple second and third chance Tornadoes shots.

"That's Clearwater," PHU head coach Darren Dublin said, acknowledging the Tornadoes' level of ability all season. "I told the girls that we have to play for 32 minutes and one point at a time. I'm proud of them, but I've got to give Clearwater their respect."

"Now we've just got to get ready for either Plant or Jefferson."

That first-round matchup in the FHSAA tournament will be at Jefferson High on Thursday night at 7.

Eric Horchy can be reached at 727-815-1071 or ehorchy@suncoastnews.com.

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