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AP Fouls Up In Overtime Loss

CHRIS HOFFMAN/HIGHLANDS TODAY

Avon Park's Rickey Taylor (12) drives to the basket with Braden River's DaVonn Williams (21) on his heels during Tuesday's overtime thriller.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: December 13, 2007

AVON PARK — A dejected Red Devil head coach Luther Clemons showed his displeasure with his team after a 57-54 overtime loss to the Braden River Pirates in a Class 4A-District 10 showdown on Tuesday.

"Coach cancelled practice tomorrow," AP center Cleveland Nobles said after leaving the locker room after the game.

The reason for this type of reaction from their coach came when Virgil Cooper fouled Braden River's Marc McKeon with 0.6 seconds left in regulation and a 49-47 lead that put the forward on the charity stripe, where he drained both free throws to send the game into overtime.

"We must realize that if you have a man trapped with 0.6 seconds on the clock that you don't foul," Clemons said.

The AP guard was visibly embarrassed about his error in judgment on the court.

"I thought they had four fouls," Cooper said. "I was just trying to keep him from shooting, and they called a foul."

Overtime saw a reversal of fortunes for the Red Devils, who watched Braden River's Kal Almadani 3-pointer swish through the basket for a 52-49 lead. The game see-sawed with the Pirates holding on to a three-point lead with 35 seconds left when Ernest Mercain launched a bomb that was good, but was ruled a two-pointer after his foot was on the line. Braden River sank a pair of free throws to ice the victory.

"They're a good team, but we just couldn't hit shots when we needed to in overtime," Cooper said. "This loss is tough."

Down for most of the game, Avon Park didn't take its first lead until 5:54 left in the fourth quarter when Tim Dennis' free throws gave the Red Devils a 40-39 advantage.

The game went back and forth for much of the quarter, and free throws became the deciding factor, as the Pirates hit 6 of 8 from the line down the stretch.

Avon Park, down by six at the half, switch from zone to man-to-man defense, which slowed the Braden River guards down and forced numerous turnovers that ignited an 8-0 run to open the third and cut the Pirate lead to one. A 6-2 run gave Braden River a 39-34 lead heading into the final stanza.

"[During that run], we knew they were doubling Cleveland [Nobles], so we moved the ball around well and found the open man," Cooper said. "I think we played really well tonight, we just made some key mistakes down the stretch that cost us a win."

Cooper finished with a team-high 12 points, while Rickey Taylor chipped in with 10 points and Nobles had eight for the Red Devils.

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