Bloodhounds Remain on Title Trail

Wed. February 08, 2012 at 4:00 a.m. | By Mike Cobb

By MIKE COBB

LEDGER CORRESPONDENT

Class 5a, District 10 Boys Basketball Tournament

LAKE WALES | The outside shooting of Rashaad Jones opened up the inside for Elmo Stephens and Daryle Henry helping Auburndale advance to the Class 5A, District 10 boys basketball championship game.

The trio combined for 61 points as the Bloodhounds cruised past Hardee 76-57 on Tuesday night earning Auburndale's first trip to the boys basketball regionals since 2006.

Before they get to the regionals, though, they will play Lake Wales Friday night for the district title. The Highlanders beat Auburndale by 24 points in each of their two regular-season games.

"We've played them good for a half in two games," Auburndale coach Eric Robinson said. "They're an experienced team. We just want to come out and play better than we played last time."

Tuesday night, it was the early hot hand by Jones from 3-point range that opened the middle for Stephens and Henry as the Bloodhounds (18-6) built a 17-point halftime lead that wasn't threatened in the second half.

Jones finished with 23 points, including 7 of 12 shooting from 3-point range. Stephens had 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Henry 16.

"They came out in a 2-3 (zone) and we thought it would slow us down but it didn't," Jones said. "We got a lot of shooters open."

That was the key to getting off to a quick start, Robinson said.

"It's always big when Rashaad gets in a groove early, and he did," Robinson said. "That just opened things up for Elmo."

HARDEE (57): Keshun Rivers 20, Andrew Hooks 9, Christian Moralez 0, Jajuan Hooks 5, Steve Mateyer 6, Keyen Brown 6, Bobby Brown 3, Kane Casso 6, Lucious Everett 0, Luke Palmer 0. Totals 22 3-9 57.

AUBURNDALE (76): Elmo Stephens 22, Rashaad Jones 23, Logan Pierre 2, John Barrett 3, Coulton Fuhrman 0, Mike Alexis 6, Daryle Henry 16, Alan St. Louis 0, Derwin James 2, Kyle Clevenger 2. Totals 28 11-14 76.

Hardee 14 7 18 18 — 57

Auburndale 20 18 20 18 — 76

3-point FGs: Hardee 10 (Rivers 3, Mateyer 2, Casso 2, B. Brown 1, A. Hooks 1, J. Hooks 1); Auburndale 9 (Jones 7, Stephens 1, Barrett 1). Records: Hardee 8-13, Auburndale 18-6.