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Logjam near top of 5A-9 girls basketball

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BY ERIC HORCHY

THE SUNCOAST NEWS

Published: January 31, 2009

CLEARWATER - For all intents and purposes, this year's Class 5A, District 9 girls basketball tournament is expected play out how it has for the past two seasons: with Clearwater winning it all and the rest of the district rushing for runners-up status.

A glance at game results makes it difficult to disagree with this scenario. The Tornadoes, with an overall record of 21-2 and 12-0 in the district, have dominated all its district games this season by a staggering average of 44 points, 68-24.

As powerful as Clearwater may be, though, that does not change the fact that two 5A-9 teams still get to qualify for the FHSAA postseason field of 32.

But which will the No. 2 be?

Three teams - Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs and Largo - have jockeyed for the position all season long. Their overall records are nearly identical, and looking at head-to-head games clears up precisely nothing.
Tarpon Springs (11-8, 8-4) took out Palm Harbor (12-9, 7-5) twice, but then dropped both games to Largo (11-7, 8-4), which, in turn, lost its home-away series to Palm Harbor.

So much for a prophetic glimpse of what's to come.

What offers a better look into the future is district tournament seeding. Clearwater will be followed in order by Largo, Tarpon, Palm Harbor, Dunedin, East Lake and Pinellas Park.

Based on that ordering, Palm Harbor should have the toughest trek to the postseason. If the Hurricanes get past first-round opponent Dunedin, they will meet Clearwater in the semifinals. Therefore, Palm Harbor reaching the playoffs would mean that the Tornadoes do not.

"We're just taking things one game at a time," Palm Harbor coach, Darren Dublin, said. "That's what we've been doing all season. Two years ago we lost to Clearwater by only three points in the championship game."

It may not be one of the tournament's more likely scenarios, but the games will be played out nonetheless.

To Palm Harbor's benefit, starting guard Jasmine Whiting is now back in uniform and will further complement leading-scorer Sharee Booze if the Hurricanes are to shake things up in February.

Beyond Palm Harbor shocking the world of girls basketball in Pinellas County, Tarpon and Largo appear in the best shape to reach the regional quarterfinals.

If business is taken care of in the first round, Largo would enter its semifinal matchup as a favorite against the Spongers simply because of the two regular-season triumphs. One of those wins was by a single point in mid-December and the latter came in more convincing fashion, 49-32.

Tarpon, like Palm Harbor, will also enter districts as a slightly different team. Nicole Crafton, a 6-foot-1 center, rejoined the squad Monday and will allow Alli Corbett, who has committed to attending the University of Tampa, more leeway to work outside-in.

"It will be an exciting game if we play Largo again," Patty Georgiou, the Tarpon coach, said. "I'm looking forward to it so we can get out there and show what we can really do."

Each possible development will begin to unfold during Wednesday night's first round at Clearwater High and the championship game will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

For coverage and photos of the week's action go to www.suncoastnews.tbo.com/pinellas class="bold">.

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