Bobcats beat Tornadoes 59-49 to win Classic for the first time
BRADENTON
Ask Dale Huffman why he wanted his North Port High Bobcats to win the Willie Clemons Classic that wrapped Friday evening at Southeast, and his answer is rooted in the past and the future.
He wanted North Port to do better than it did in last season’s tournament, when the Bobcats lost in the first round but rallied to win the consolation bracket. Huffman also wanted his team to take some momentum into next week, when the Bobcats come back from break to face Braden River and Naples Gulf Coast, the only two teams to defeat North Port this season.
Huffman got what he wanted and his girls got some hardware as North Port beat Clearwater 59-49 to win the Clemons Classic for the first time.
“I told them, ‘You’re not here to play for fifth place,’ ” Huffman said. “It’s nice to take home the big one instead of the little one.”
Three Bobcats walked away with trophies: Aryana Hough and Alexis Francavilla made the all-tournament team and Emani Jefferson was named the tournament’s MVP.
That trio made life hard on the previously undefeated Tornadoes, who struggled matching North Port’s formula: Get the ball in the hands of Jefferson and watch her heave it down court while Hough and Francavilla beat Clearwater (12-1) in transition.
“We knew they were going to press because we watched them play the other night,” said Huffman, who installed a 1-1-3 offense he learned from watching UConn’s women’s team.
“That was the first eight or nine points.”
The Bobcats (14-2) jumped to a 7-0 lead before Clearwater, which came back from a 10-point deficit against Sarasota High during Thursday’s semifinal, clawed back and eventually tied the game at 21 late in the first half. North Port went into the break up by five on a 3-pointer from Janae Dennard and a lay-up from Hough, who finished with 23 points and stretched the Bobcats’ lead to 48-33 with five minutes to play.
“We told our girls, ‘You’re not going to beat people by 20, 30 points every time you play,’ ” Huffman said. “This is a game of spurts. They would spurt, we would spurt, they would spurt. Luckily, our spurt stayed ahead.”
Jefferson had eight points and Francavilla had 10 for North Port, which heads to Braden River on Jan. 5. The Pirates defeated the Bobcats 92-89 in overtime on Dec. 21.
Then, on Jan. 9, the Bobcats host Naples Gulf Coast in a game that could decide the top seed in Class 8A-District 12.
“That’s why I did not want to lose this game — I did not want to go into Braden River and Gulf Coast with a loss,” Huffman said. “I want to take that momentum and go get them.”
SARASOTA 54, SOUTHEAST 52
The Sailors held on to clinch third place.
Down three with about six minutes to play, Sarasota (9-4) tied the game at 42 on a 3-pointer from Sophie Giardina and then took a 49-42 lead when Kate Meyer scored seven straight points. Meyer scored 21 points.
Sarasota went up 54-46 with 1:30 to play on another 3-pointer from Giardina before Southeast (8-7) got a lay-up from Daija Snipes and two free throws from Tamara Shivalier to close to within 54-52 with 17 seconds to play.
Southeast got one last chance, inbounding the ball under the basket with 2.3 seconds to play. But a short jumper from Amoni Waiters bounced off the back of the rim.
Giardina finished with 15 points and made the all-tournament team. Kelly Brown had 13 points for Sarasota and also made the all-tournament team.
Waiters (19 points) and Snipes (five points) made the team for the Seminoles.
HARMONY 36, PALMETTO 32
The Tigers fell in the seventh-place game to the Longhorns. Diamond Murrell had 11 points for the Tigers (0-12).