Bartow routs St. Cloud in 6A-2 quarterfinals

BARTOW — Bartow scored the first eight points of the game, was never threatened and cruised to a 75-43 victory over St. Cloud on Thursday night in the Class 6A, Region 2 quarterfinals at Bartow.

The Yellow Jackets will host Winter Haven on Tuesday in the regional semifinals. Winter Haven advanced with a 65-62 victory over Viera.

Against St. Cloud, Amarion Frazier scored 12 first-quarter points to lead the Yellow Jackets as they built a commanding 30-8 lead in the first quarter. 

Quicker and more aggressive, Bartow was too swift in transition and its rapid, unselfish ball movement against St Cloud’s 2-3 zone repeatedly resulted in open jumpers. The Yellow Jackets connected on nine 3-pointers in the first half to lead 56-20. 

The game had a running clock in the entire second half.

The Yellow Jackets (17-4) have won 13 of their past 14 games, including eight in a row.

Bartow had four players score in double figures as Frazier finished with 22 points. Kjei Parker finished with 13, while Tyrone Smith and Blake Denmark each added 10 points.

“This was their (St Cloud) first playoff appearance and we have been here many times before,” Bartow head coach Terrence McGriff said. “That was probably a big difference tonight. They were probably a little jittery getting started tonight. In their mind, we were the defending state champs, although last year’s team is different from this year’s team, so it really has nothing to do with this year. We did shoot the ball well, and we defended well too. Good job by our guys tonight. But now we need to get ready for Tuesday night against Winter Haven.”

Senior guard Walter Clayton (Iona signee), who is Bartow’s leading scorer, was content to let his teammates score. He repeatedly passed up shots for himself to get others involved in the offense. He finished with just four points and six assists.

“Once we were running up the score, we knew we had to work on executing and getting everyone in the game to get better for next week,” Clayton said.

Tyrell Frederick led St. Cloud with 12 points.