TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

A Landmark Victory For Durant

ADVERTISEMENT

By DAREK SHARP

dsharp@tampatrib.com

Published: February 4, 2009

PLANT CITY - It has been a tremendous season for Durant High in boys basketball, but until last week, the Cougars had not recorded a landmark victory.

That changed when the Cougars came away from Sarasota Riverview with a 53-51 win - Durant's first road defeat of a state-ranked team in six years.

"It was one of the best games I've been blessed to be a part of," said Durant head coach Jeff Shotwell, whose team improved to 17-4 with the victory.

Sarasota Riverview quickly erased a six-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, after Durant had outscored the Rams 17-6 in the third. It was close the rest of the way, but the Cougars prevailed.

Durant will be the No. 2 seed for the upcoming District 6A-8 tournament. The Cougars had a chance at the top spot and a first-round bye but lost 52-44 Friday to Lakeland, so Lakeland gets the No. 1 seed.

That means Durant's quest for the playoffs will likely require another victory against Sarasota Riverview. Durant, which went 10-2 in district play (both losses to Lakeland), opens Tuesday with bottom seed Riverview. Assuming a win there Durant will play the Sarasota Riverview-East Bay winner.

In the other half of the bracket Lakeland gets a bye and will play the Plant City-Sarasota winner.

Regardless of their seed, the Cougars clearly are ready to compete for a playoff spot. They continue to get production from players other than senior A.J. Garden, the school's all-time leading scorer who has been averaging a relatively low 13 points per game.

Garden, however, has not been needed to carry the load. Take the big win over Sarasota Riverview, for example, where Jordan Mitchell scored all 10 of Durant's fourth-quarter points.

Mitchell sank two free throws late that put Durant ahead, and the Rams missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Andre Nation has actually been the leading scorer as a sophomore, with guard Jeffrey Thomas also averaging in double figures.

Lakeland was No. 9 in the most recent 6A poll, and Sarasota Riverview was 10th before the loss to Durant.

Durant finishes the regular season Thursday at Armwood and hosts the district tournament next week.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT