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Running On Empty

MARK PINSON/HIGHLANDS TODAY

Lake Placid's Stacy Davis puts up a jump shot as McKeel Academy's Katie Black defends during Friday night's Class 3A-District 10 game.

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By Mark  Pinson | Highlands Today

Published: December 16, 2007

LAKE PLACID — Playing back-to-back games caught up with the Lake Placid girls basketball team at the worst possible time.

McKeel Academy used a patient offense and a game-high 12 points from center Ciara Cox to beat a fatigued Green Dragon squad 40-27 in a Class 3A-District 10 game on Friday night.

After edging Clewiston by one point in a fast-paced, physical contest on Thursday night, Lake Placid, which dresses only seven players, ran out of gas in the second half against the taller Wildcats.

"It looked like we were tired from playing on Thursday night," said Green Dragon coach Shonda Legree. "We weren't getting up and down the floor like we normally do. We don't have a lot of depth, so the girls have to play pretty much the entire game.

"We were a step slow to the ball, didn't rebound well, didn't shoot well, and once we got behind, it was tough to come back."

The loss, which was compounded by an ankle injury to guard Kaneisha Hamilton, dropped Lake Placid to 5-5 overall and 1-1 in the district.

Hamilton, who does most of the ball-handling for the Green Dragons, twisted her ankle in a pileup in the paint with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

By the time she returned, an eight-point deficit had ballooned to 15 points.

"Kaneisha did the best she could and tried to come back and help the team," Legree said. "But we didn't have enough energy to overcome such a big deficit."

Both teams came out ice cold from the floor to open the game, and Lake Placid sophomore forward Sierra Weaver, who scored a team-high 10 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, scored on a putback to tie the contest at four at the end of the first period.

McKeel used its superior height to take control as Cox scored two buckets in the paint and forward Cappy Toney chipped in with four points as the Wildcats took a 16-8 lead at the half.

Lake Placid, which shot 22 percent from the floor, had no answer for McKeel's inside game, as Cox dominated the paint and scored six points to build the lead to 28-15 heading into the final quarter.

Hamilton bravely re-entered the game and the Dragons made a run, as Weaver scored eight points and Stacy Davis knocked down a jumper to narrow the deficit to 29-23 with 3:45 remaining.

McKeel, which improved to 2-0 in district play, answered as guard Taylor Collins buried a 3-pointer and drove for a lay-up to seal the win.

"The girls battled back, but we came up a little short," Legree said. "We'll have a few days to rest up, but we have a big district game against Frostproof on Tuesday night.

"I hope we're able to come out and play with energy and intensity because we know it's going to be a tough game."

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