Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

Lakewood gets it done

LAKELAND -- There was just one highlight dunk by Marcus Morrison, just one nasty crossover by Kevin Dorsey and none of the spectacular plays associated with the run-and-gun Lakewood basketball team.

It was a staid, workmanlike effort, in fact, and once again showed the Spartans are a team of many faces.

That face now has a wide grin on it. Lakewood will play for the Class 4A state championship on Saturday after beating Leesburg 59-45 on Thursday night in the semifinals before a crowd of 4,303 at the Lakeland Center.

"Another step ahead," guard Kevin Dorsey said.

The Spartans will meet Belle Glades Glades Central at 3:30 p.m. Saturday for the title. Glades Central beat Jacksonville Andrew Jackson 62-50 in the other semifinal.

It will be the school's first state championship game. In four previous trips to the final four, the Spartans failed to get past the semifinals.

"We got over the hump," said Morrison, who scored a game-high 18 points.

Lakewood coach Dan Wright, who also lost in a semifinal as a player, will try to engineer Pinellas County's first boys hoops title since Boca Ciega won the Class 4A championship in 1994.

"Marcus hit it on the head," Wright said. "We now have an opportunity to advance into some new territory here. We're excited about that."

The Spartans (32-2) looked very excited to start Thursday's semifinals, scoring the first 12 points and leading 15-3 in the first quarter.

But the Yellow Jackets, the quickest team Lakewood has seen this year, slowed the Spartans with defensive pressure and a ball-hawking style that knocked balls away on every Lakewood drive. Leesburg (29-6) came back to take the lead with 2 minutes, 4 seconds left in the first half before Marcus Lee had his best minute of the season -- one free throw, a putback and a 3-pointer that pushed the Lakewood lead to 29-25.

Leading by three points at halftime, the Spartans decided to pull back their press and abandon trying to push the ball upcourt, choosing instead to pass over the Leesburg press.

It paid off in a 12-1 run to start the second half and Lakewood rolled from there.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright