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Highlands Today

AP Boys To Play In T-Mac Tournament

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Avon Park’s Cleveland Nobles and the rest of the Red Devils will face Haines City on Thursday in the opening day of the T-Mac Christmas Shootout in Aurburndale.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: December 19, 2007

AVON PARK — The Avon Park boys basketball team is looking for a few last-minute Christmas gifts.
But the only thing on the Red Devils' list is wins, as the team is looking forward to sporting their home colors at the 2007 T-Mac Christmas Shootout in Auburndale.

Red Devil head coach Luther Clemons invites the opportunity for his squad to face quality competition.
"This gives us a chance to face teams that we wouldn't normally get to play," Clemons said. "Playing high-caliber talent can only help us as we move forward toward the district tournament."

The 10-team tournament is named after Houston Rocket forward Tracy McGrady, who was a graduate of Auburndale High School, and will feature local teams from across central Florida including Tampa Tech, Orlando Evans and Winter Haven.

"It should be a great weekend of competitive basketball," Auburndale head coach Eric Robinson said in an email to the participating coaches. "There will be much excitement and cheer in the air with Christmas right around the corner."

Avon Park has elevated its play of late, going down to the wire against Class 4A-District 10 foes DeSoto and Braden River over the last few weeks before getting its first win over Palmetto on Friday.

Down 13 points to DeSoto in the second half, the Red Devils used a pressure defense to harass the Bulldog guards — including recent Florida Atlanta University signee Shay Shine — to pull within four points with four minutes left to play and used the same half-court trap to push Braden River to the limit before falling in overtime.

With such a young team and being a first-year coach, Clemons isn't concerned with all the hype around wins and losses, but more in the team feeling good as a team.

"Before the Palmetto game, my game plan was two words: 'Have fun,'" the AP coach said. "We're not going to worry about wining or losing that will take care of itself.

"This summer we had a goal of playing games and having fun. When the season started, I really got away from that philosophy, but now we play to have fun and enjoy the game."

Center Cleveland Nobles isn't deterred by the losses, but on his continued improvement and helping his team — win, lose or draw.

"I've just got to work on my game," Nobles said. "This team is still young and we're learning how to win. We were so close [against Braden River] and I know we can get even better. We just have to stick together and continue playing as a team."

With the district tournament on the horizon, Clemons is excited about the potential of his team, not only this year but for the future.

"Our focus has always been the districts but that will not be the measure of the success of this team," Clemons said. "We have everyone coming back next year so our goal will be to have fun and learn."

Avon Park takes the court at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday against Haines City in the tourney and plays Victory Christian Academy at 3 p.m. on Friday. The Devils wind up the weekend on Saturday when they face Lake Region at 6:30 p.m.

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