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Young Spurs Strong Sebring Finish

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Sebring sophomore Joe Young (44) goes strong to the basket during the Streaks' 66-60 win over Mulberry on Saturday.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: December 31, 2007

SEBRING –– Screams of joy and jubilation erupted, and the spirits of one young athlete were lifted if only for one game.

Sebring's Joe Young capped off a 10-point fourth quarter with a game-ending dunk that had the home crowd fans on their feet to celebrate the Blue Streak boys basketball team's 66-60 victory over Mulberry in the final day of the Jim Taveniere Holiday Tournament on Saturday.

"[Joe] came up huge for us," said Sebring head coach Princeton Harris. "I told him that we needed him to step up, and he responded.

"He did everything we need him to do to win."

Young, who finished with a game-high 18 points, did much of his damage from the free throw line in the final minutes of the game, going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe that gave the Streaks a two point lead with under a minute to play.

Senior Sam Robinson had two huge plays down the stretch, hitting a lay-up after snagging a miss by T.J. Williams while trailing the play to give Sebring a three-point advantage.

After a bucket by Blue Streak point guard Javier Medina to push the lead to five, Mulberry's Cruz Muntz knocked down a wide open 3-pointer to cut the lead to two with 28.2 seconds left. Moments later, Muntz had another opportunity from beyond the arc but Robinson skied for the block and Medina grabbed the rebound and was put on the line, where he knocked down the pair from the line.

That set up Young's highlight dunk and the celebration began.

Young was congratulated by his teammates, a validation of all the hard work he's put in to get to this point.

"I had confidence in my shot tonight, and I wanted to do the little things to help us win," Young said. "[Mulberry] doubled Sam, and that really opened up things for the rest of us."

With the win, Sebring finished fourth in the tournament and gained invaluable experience heading toward the regular-season stretch run and the Class 4A-District 10 tournament.

Harris had a New Year's wish that he's hoping would come true in 2008.

"I just want to get Sam, Joe, Javier and Chris all hot at the same time," the SHS head coach said. "If I can just get all the marbles in the bag at once, we'd be one tough team to beat.

"You would have thought I'd won the lottery if that ever happened."

After a lackluster opening quarter with the score tied at 10, Sebring's JC Howard scored on back-to-back steals of the Panther guards and the Blue Streaks went on a 11-5 run to build a six-point lead midway through the quarter.

Mulberry rallied to take a bite out of the lead, getting to within three, but Sebring held their ground, walking into the locker room with a 27-23 lead at the half and extended that lead to eight at the end of the third.

It looked like the Streaks would cruise in the fourth, holding tightly to a six-point advantage in the see-saw affair, but Mulberry scored eight straight points, including a 3-pointer by Muntz –– who finished with 15 points –– for a 55-52 lead with 3:03 left.

Medina picked the pocket of Mulberry's Mike Poole and cut the lead to within one before Young's heroics completed the rally for the Streaks.

"This was a great win for us," Medina said. "This team really stepped up and played with a lot of heart. Its great going into the new year with a pair of wins."

Medina finished with 11 points and six steals against Mulberry, which saw Sebring record 17 steals, 29 rebounds and 10 assists –– all bests for for the Streaks in the tourney.

But Young was the hidden gem: His gritty display and all-out hustle were keys to a victory and, perhaps, a blueprint for the rest of the season.

"[Joe] was the beneficiary of Sam getting doubled tonight," Harris said. "Sam is going to see those double teams the rest of the season, so he'll have plenty of scoring opportunities."

Sebring will take a break to ring in the new year before getting back on the court on Jan. 8 when they host Class 4A-District 10 foe Booker.

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