Clearwater in final

Greetings from Lakeland. Clearwater got off to a rough start against Winter Haven in the Class 5A girls basketball final. The Tornadoes scored first on a layup by Keona Dixon, then watched as the Blue Devils went on an 18-2 run en route to a 32-14 lead at the half. Clearwater, though, made a nice run, thanks to 3-pointers by Dixon and Veronica Ryan to cut the deficit to 11 late in the third quarter. I'll keep you posted.

-- Bob Putnam, Times staff writer