PALMETTO — Groundhog Day 2010 proclaimed six more weeks of winter. And just like the furry creature that saw his shadow, change wasn’t coming in the Class 4A-District 10 girls basketball quarterfinals.
The Palmetto Tigers dismantled the visiting Braden River Pirates 59-34 on Tuesday in the third meeting between the teams.
The Tigers (15-8) swept both regular season meetings with the Pirates, and Tuesday night’s clash provided a similar outcome.
Palmetto’s full-court pressure defense resulted in several Braden River turnovers early on, as the Tigers headed to the locker room with a 12-point lead.
“I thought we did a good job of playing defense, and at halftime we talked about a few things we could do better in the second half,” Palmetto coach Robert Kelly said. “And they came out and did that, and helped us be more successful.”
The Tigers defense resembled a fortress at times, with the Pirates only netting two baskets in the opening quarter and six field goals in the entire second half.
While Braden River struggled from the field, the Tigers offense flourished.
They did it with transition basketball.
Sophomore Blair Thomas was the primary benefactor, beating the Pirates back down the court to net layup after layup.
“I just try to get down the court and help out our team by scoring,” said Thomas, who had a game-high 20 points.
The Tigers’ size and fast hands helped in crashing the boards. The hosts outrebounded the Pirates, 46 to 24.
Palmetto also hauled in 24 offensive boards.
Consequently, the Tigers’ offense reaped the rewards of having so many second-chance opportunities.
That helped in the transition game once more.
“We try to push the ball as fast as we can up and down,” Thomas said.
Braden River’s Caitlyn Benedetto had a team-high 19 points, but it wasn’t enough.
The Pirates didn’t have another consistent scorer providing support to the guard’s hot shooting.
They shot just 12 of 46 from the field, with the Tigers shooting 37 percent.
The closest the Pirates got was when they cut it to a six-point deficit with 5:27 to play in the second period.
The Tigers’ Ashley Smith (16 points) and Lawana Peterson (14 points) also scored in double figures.
Palmetto’s victory sends the Tigers to tournament No. 1 seed St. Pete Lakewood for a 7 p.m. tip tonight.
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