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Cougars Invited To Play In Big Blue Classic

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By DAREK SHARP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 12, 2007

PLANT CITY - Going over to Polk County and putting a serious scare into the defending district champion was an encouraging development for Durant High.

And after nearly beating Lakeland, the Cougars are not through taking on Polk County powers.

Last week, Durant was added to the Big Blue Classic in Winter Haven, a sign of respect for the Cougars. No doubt Nov. 27's narrow defeat boosted that level of respect.

"This is a really good tournament we're going to," Durant head coach Jeff Shotwell said. "Frankly, it's a tournament normally I wouldn't want to put us into, but this team has shown it can play well enough against good teams."

It could prove to be a valuable experience for the Cougars, but not from the angle one would expect.

Shotwell has noticed an enormous difference, and it again manifested Nov. 27, in the officiating from Polk County referees.

Durant entered the game having shot 29 and 31 free throws its last two times out but only got to the foul line six times at Lakeland.

"And it's definitely not a Polk County bias," Shotwell said. "It's just the level of play is so physical in Polk County, the officials are used to letting a lot more stuff go. They can't call as many fouls over there or the games would have no flow. You have to play through it."

He added that Lakeland earned a 34-6 advantage in free throws by its aggressive play, something the Cougars have tried to stress.

Durant led Lakeland by seven points with five minutes left but lost 58-50, getting outscored 26-11 in the final quarter. A.J. Garden scored 17 against the Dreadnaughts, which began last season with a 20-0 mark and return four of their five starters.

The Cougars then fell to 1-2 in district play with another tough loss, 75-64 against Sarasota Riverview.

Garden brought his average points per game to 20.2 through five games. Durant has five others averaging at least five a game: Jeffrey Thomas, Royce Rose, Dexter Barge and brothers Jordan and John Mitchell.

On Thursday night the Cougars host East Bay to wrap up the preholiday schedule.

The Winter Haven event runs Dec. 27-29. Durant is also hosting the Beef O'Brady's New Year's Shootout the first weekend in January.

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampatrib .com.

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