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Bulldogs' Early Run Buries Green Dragons

Brian Gjurgevich/Highlands Today

Lake Placid senior Conlin Veley works his way to the basket around the Frostproof defense on Tuesday night.

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By Brian Gjurgevich | Highlands Today

Published: December 20, 2007

LAKE PLACID – The Lake Placid boys basketball team seemed to have a handle on things after one quarter of play Tuesday night against Frostproof.

But for the next six minutes, the Green Dragons simply got handled.

The Bulldogs scored the first 16 points of the second quarter and wouldn't relinquish their lead the rest of the way as Frostproof held off two furious LP rallies to claim a 61-58 Class 3A-District 10 victory at LPHS.

"We took a break," said Green Dragon coach Levi Williams, who watched his team squander a 12-6 first-quarter lead and not score their first bucket of the second frame until the 2:40 mark. By then, Frostproof led 22-14, and though the Dragons would get the game within a basket multiple times the rest of the way, the Bulldogs' confidence was riding high.

"That run got us motivated," said Frostproof's Joe Taylor, who led all scorers with 19 points. "When we get going like that on offense, it helps everyone get into the game."

Senior Josh Hickey, who led the Dragons (5-4, 2-1) with 15 points, said the teams seemed to switch roles when the second quarter began.

"They got after it and we got lazy," Hickey said. "Their confidence was building and ours was going down. We picked it up there at the end and ran with them, but we dug ourselves a hole too quick."

Junior Travalier Sholtz had 13 points and was among four double-figure scorers for Lake Placid, which brought the game to within one point at half after sophomore Thaddeus Legree nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner just before the break to bring the score to 25-24.

Sholtz said coach Williams stressed effort during his halftime speech, and for a while, the team seemed to respond.

"We came out and started running with them," Sholtz said. "When we get down, it's really hard for us to get right. We didn't pass the ball well or fill in the lanes, and we didn't get the ball to our key players late.

"We're not a big team, so we need to get the ball to our scorers."

Coach Williams agreed.

"We have to know where our bread and butter is," he said. "On the positive side, I think we're light-years ahead of where we were last year as far as not giving up and fighting to the end. But we had a good team down, and we need to learn how to take advantage of that."

The Bulldogs took a four-point lead heading into the final frame and extended their lead to eight points with four minutes remaining. LP cut the lead to two with three minutes left, but Frostproof hit 10 of 12 free throws on the night to hand the Dragons their first district defeat.

Senior Conlin Veley finished with 11 points for LP, while KJ Delbert added 10 points, including eight in the fourth quarter alone. Frostproof's Nickell Roby had 17 points, while Tony Pinion grabbed 15 rebounds and Mason Gravley added 13 boards.

"I think everyone on the team underestimated them a bit," Hickey said. "And tonight wasn't a great shooting night for us."

Williams said his team has some growing up to do, and with a game tonight at Okeechobee and another Friday at Sebring, the Green Dragons will need to display the level of effort that led them to a hot start.

"When we were playing well, there was a consistent intensity level all the way through the game," Williams said. "If we learn to keep doing that, who knows what we can accomplish this year."

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