Southeast gets first region tournament victory since 2004 with win over Lely

BRADENTON -- Tre Alexandrea is not boastful or cocky. He just doesn't believe anyone can stop him one on one.

So when the Southeast point guard saw Naples Lely was going to play the Seminoles man to man Alexandrea figured he was going to be in for an enjoyable evening.

He didn't disappoint himself or his teammates dishing out 10 assists while scoring 18 points to lead host Southeast to a 68-57 victory in a Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinal round game Thursday night. It was the program's first region tournament victory since 2004 when the Seminoles were a Cinderella team and made it to the state final four.

"Tre is a very tough guard to contend with and not many people if any can stay in front of him on a consistent ba

sis," Southeast head coach Floyd Watkins said. "He is a three-year starter and has been through a lot of wars. He is the guy we want handling the ball at the end of the game because of his ball handling, court vision and quickness."

Southeast (21-7) feels good every time the ball is in Alexandrea's hands because good things follow. Lely tried to pressure him and take away the Noles inside game, but he consistently drove past his defender for layups or hit the open man for a layup.

"Every time they came up on me I kicked or I finished. I like it when teams play us man to man. It's hard for them to stop us," Alexandrea said.

With second leading scorer and rebounder Corey Davis not playing because of personal issues, the Noles wanted to get off to a quick start and stay in front.

The game was tied at nine with three minutes remaining in the first quarter when the Noles ran off eight straight points and never trailed.

Lely cut its deficit to 26-19 with 4:28 left before halftime when Alexandrea sparked a six-point run with two baskets to push the lead to 32-19. He scored eight points in the second period that enabled Southeast to take a 37-25 lead into halftime.

The Noles pushed the lead to 57-44 in the third quarter and Lely could not get closer than nine points. Ronald Taylor, who led all scorers with 24 points, scored nine in the fourth quarter when the Trojans made a final run.

"We gave up a lot of points in the fourth quarter and they scored over their average," Watkins said. "But when you have teams that it could be their last game you see a lot more heart, and we might have got a little tired."

Davis will not play Tuesday in the Noles' region semifinal at home against Cape Coral Mariner, which defeated St. Pete Gibbs 63-37 in its region quarterfinal.

Ronald Taylor made up for his absence with 24 points. His brother, sophomore Alex Taylor, controlled the boards with 12 rebounds and added 10 points.

Southeast led 45-38 after three quarters and opened the fourth period with a 12-0 run to take a commanding 57-38 lead with 5:20 left in the game. Ronald Taylor sparked the spree with five points and Alexandrea had four.

"It starts with rebounding. When we are out and running and finishing on the break that makes a difference," Watkins said. "Basketball is a game of runs and you almost expect the other team to come back at you. They had a sense of urgency and were not intimidated and were physical and strong. If we can be more consistent on defense it would give us an opportunity to move forward."

Watkins knows about what happened the last time the Noles won a region game, but doesn't want to look past Mariner (25-3), which handily defeated a Gibbs team that beat Southeast twice.

Alan Dell, Herald sports columnist/writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Southeast gets first region tournament victory since 2004 with win over Lely ."