LARGO — On Friday, Largo’s Amant Deliu broke his foot in two spots during practice and is out for the season.
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It was bad enough the Packers were missing their leading scorer. Things got worse Wednesday when point guard Julian Cooney came down with the flu.
Despite being depleted, Largo found the wherewithal to hold off a furious rally from Clearwater to escape with a 60-58 win in the Class 7A, District 9 basketball semifinals.
"An ugly win is better than a pretty loss," Packers coach Phil Price said.
It was the third time Price faced his former assistant, Kris Foote, who was hired to take over the Tornadoes this season. Largo (17-7), a defending state finalist, swept the regular season series, winning the first one by four points and the second by 11.
On Wednesday, the Packers took control early and led 37-19 at halftime.
Clearwater (12-14) stormed back with an 18-2 run to cut it to 39-37. Largo settled down and eventually took a double-digit lead.
Again, the Tornadoes rallied, cutting it to 60-58 in the final 30 seconds. Clearwater had a missed layup in the final five seconds and had an errant desperation heave from half-court as time expired.
"We came out in the second half and I guess we thought the game was over," Price said. "We just weren’t ready. But we did enough to pull through and that’s all that matters."
Zhahidi Robinson had 17 points and Bobby Rountree added 14 to lead the Packers. Noah Thorpe (19 points) and Randall Letrell (18) were the top scorers for the Tornadoes.
In the first semifinal, Boca Ciega beat Northeast 65-54 to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2013 when former standout Dallas Moore, now at North Florida, was a senior for the Pirates.
Boca Ciega had to overcome the loss of several players this season. Adrian and Jalen White transferred to Lakewood. The Pirates (13-6), despite missing those key players, stayed in every game. Five losses were by six points or less.
Then in the regular season finale, Boca Ciega’s 6-foot-5 forward Jerroda Briscoe broke his ankle.
Boca Ciega regrouped for Wednesday’s semifinal. Trevor Carrier led the way with 13 points.
"This is a good, hard-working group of guys we have here," Pirates coach Randy Shuman said.
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