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Red Devils Blast Brahmans

BILL RETTEW JR./Highlands Today

Matt Chouinard of Melbourne, Fla. works on a spec racer Ford in the paddock area of the Sebring International Raceway on Friday.

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By Mark  Pinson | Highlands Today

Published: November 26, 2007

AVON PARK — It may have been a long holiday weekend, but Avon Park used a suffocating defense and a balanced offense to make short work of Okeechobee by a score of 67-31 in girls basketball on Saturday night.

The Class 4A Red Devils, who improved to 3-1 with the win, used their athleticism and quickness to force 23 Brahman turnovers to break the non-district game open in the second half.

"We played our game tonight," junior guard Daija Barrett said. "We played as a team, ran the floor well and played as one.

"Our offense was clicking, our defense was solid and this is the kind of effort we need to bring every night."

The loss dropped the Class 4A Brahmans to 1-2.

Avon Park took control from the opening tip, as Barrett was able to penetrate Okeechobee's zone defense and scored six of her 12 points, as the Red Devils took a 15-9 lead heading into the second period.

Okeechobee, which shot just 21 percent for the game, was ice cold from the floor in the second stanza.

Avon Park took advantage as forward Kandice Stukes, who had 11 rebounds, dominated the paint and scored six of her game-high 13 points on putbacks.

Jamee Hawthorne added four of her six points on drives to the basket as the Red Devils opened up a 27 18 lead at the half.

"We didn't relax at halftime," Barrett said. "We came out focused on executing what we had been working on in practice."

Avon Park opened the third quarter by employing its devastating full-court press and forced Okeechobee into numerous turnovers.

Beonca Godfrey, who had six steals, scored six of her game-high 13 points on layups and Brearna Tate, who had five steals, joined the scoring fest by adding four points, as the Red Devils extended their lead to 52-22 heading into the final eight minutes.

"We've got to come out and play hard no matter the opposition," Tate said. "We've been practicing hard on our press and putting pressure on the ball and we got a lot of turnovers tonight.

"We need to go full speed the whole game, and if we do that, good things are going to happen for us."

Okeechobee was led by guard Monica Koger's 10 points, but Avon Park, which substituted freely in the second half, continued to score on the inside and a running clock was used the final six minutes.

Even though the Red Devils didn't utilize their press and went to a zone in the final period, the Brahmans had a hard time finding the basket in the closing minutes.

The pressure and game-long intensity was exactly what Avon Park coach Paulette Daley was looking for from her talented squad, which was trying to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Sebring on Tuesday.

"We stepped it up and executed better tonight on offense and defense," the Red Devil coach said. "I really liked our balance on offense, because we don't want to rely on just one person to score. "If we move the ball around and work for the open shot, we're much tougher to defend.

"This is the kind of effort I want to see, but I want to see it every night."

Avon Park is back in action with a home game against Lake Placid on Tuesday night.

Boys Basketball

CAPE CORAL — Josh Hickey scored a team-high 11 points, but Lake Placid lost to Boca Ciega 74-47 in the consolation game of the Turkey Shoot-out at Ida Baker High School on Saturday night.

The Green Dragons, who dropped to 1-2, trailed by only nine points at the half, but let the game slip away in the third quarter.

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