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LIVE: St. John Lutheran vs. Sarasota Christian
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Location: Blogs The Sports Blog |
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| Posted by: Gregory Broome |
2/20/2008 12:23 PM |
Good morning. Live from the Lakeland Center, The Sports Blog is proud to bring you live updates of the St. John Lutheran girls’ basketball team in the FHSAA state semifinals. Today’s foe in the 1A bracket is Sarasota Christian.
UPDATE: Watching the teams warm up, the Lady Saints are a good match physically for the Lady Blazers. No ridiculously tall girls on the other side or anything like that. And I’m not sure anyone looks up to the task of guarding Ashley Hampton. As for the crowd, St. John’s got about three sections of fans, and a slight advantage over Sarasota in the noise department.
EARLY ACTION: Sarasota point Jenna Hostetler misses a pair of 3s on the Blazers’ first possession. Hampton knocks down a turnaround on the other end. 2-0 after 1:20.
FALLING BEHIND: 12-7 Sarasota with 2 minutes to play. Hampton is dominant on both ends, but the Blazers are solving the Saints’ defense and owning the glass on offense and defense. Another Sarasota layup makes it 14-7 with 1:22 left in the first, and St. John uses its first timeout.
WORST-CASE SCENARIO: Sarasota ended the first quarter on an 18-3 run, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, to go up 20-7 after 8 minutes. The Blazers are playing Hampton physically, pushing her around and double-teaming constantly, and the Saints have yet to find an answer for that.
CLAWING AWAY: St. John gets on the board with free throws by Rebekah Corn and Rebecca Westol, and a contested three by Hampton. But Sarasota isn’t letting up, and leads 30-12 with 5:20 to play in the half.
OVERWHELMING: The Blazers are bringing productive players off the bench and continue to get to loose balls and offensive rebounds as the Saints starters begin to tire. Sarasota’s lead is 22 with 2 minutes left in the half.
HALFTIME UPDATE: The Saints couldn’t make much progress before the break, and head into the locker room down 40-16. Hampton has 8 points.
UPHILL CLIMB: The Lady Saints get a long and loud standing ovation coming out for the second half, but they face an extremely difficult task, with only 16 minutes to erase a 24-point lead.
MORE OF THE SAME: The Saints made a few adjustments, trapping faster and harder and finding weakside cutters to the basket. None of it is helping the score. 45-18 with 5 minutes to play.
SCORING BURST: An 8-2 Saints rally provides some hope, but an aggressive Hampton picks up her third foul reaching for a steall. Amy Ergle drops in a layup that cuts the lead to 47-28, and Sarasota calls time. Saints fans are screaming with renewed vigor.
8 MINUTES LEFT: The Saints continue their strong play to finish the third, but the margin is just too big. Sarasota leads 56-31 with one quarter to play. Hampton has 17 points, a game-high.
WINDING DOWN: The Saints have played admirably in the second half, but it wasn’t meant to be. It’s been a brilliant career for Ashley Hampton, and a remarkable run for this group of young women, especially seniors Hampton, Amy Ergle, Annie-Grace Shaffer and Rebecca Westol. Congratulations to all on a fantastic year, and to Kimberly Pompey-Bell for an outstanding debut season. The Saints backers are still bringing the energy, the cheerleaders are still performing just as they did in the first quarter, when the Saints led 4-2. With 6 minutes left, it’s 61-37. I’ll be back with a final shortly.
FINAL UPDATE: Hampton left with 2:21 to play to a rousing ovation from the Saints. All the reserves are getting in as the game wraps up. Final score: 82-43, Sarasota Christian. St. John’s season is over at 26-6, and with the school’s first FHSAA State Tournament appearance. It doesn’t feel like it right now, but this team will look back on this season fondly pretty soon.
Be sure to check ocala.com and tomorrow’s Star-Banner for more. |
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Re: LIVE: St. John Lutheran vs. Sarasota Christian |
By Robert Kessler on
2/20/2008 1:19 PM |
| What did Hampton finish up with? |
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Re: LIVE: St. John Lutheran vs. Sarasota Christian |
By Greg Ergle on
2/20/2008 6:47 PM |
| The Lady Saints are back at the hotel resting after giving it all they had today. Great heart and great hustle as always. The team will remain in Lakeland Thursday and Friday to watch the championship games and enjoy our Final Four experience. Thanks to all of our fans for your support and thanks to the Ocala Star Banner for the great press. The girls appreciate it. greg |
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Re: LIVE: St. John Lutheran vs. Sarasota Christian |
By Greg Ergle on
2/20/2008 7:27 PM |
| Ashley finished with 21 points. |
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