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Miners Strike Down Devils

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Avon Park's Ja'mee Hawthorne goes strong to the basket against Fort Meade's Lysha Graham during Monday's non-district match-up.

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By CHRIS HOFFMAN

Highlands Today

Published: December 3, 2008

AVON PARK - As the fourth quarter's final seconds ticked away, Daija Barrett hauled in a rebound and immediately called for a time-out, but the Avon Park girls basketball team had none left, and the buzzer sounded the end of a Fort Meade victory over the Red Devils on Monday.

"I heard one of my teammates yell for me to call a timeout," Barrett said. "I called timeout, but it was too late. I should've known better and given the ball up instead of holding the ball at the end of the game."

Barrett was held to two points and the Red Devils had difficulty finding their shots early against the Miners, who sank clutch free throw attempts late to preserve the win.

The long Thanksgiving layoff may have attributed to a sluggish start from both teams, but it was a lack of prowess from the free throw line that did in Avon Park late in the game.

Fort Meade hit all six of its free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, while the Red Devils were just 5 of 16 on the night in a 48-47 home loss to the Miners.

Center Brearnna Tate, who split her shots from the charity stripe in the final seconds, felt her team had numerous chances to win the game at the end.

"I give Fort Meade all the credit," Tate said. "They came out and played us hard. We had a hard time scoring on the inside against their tall front line, especially at the end of the game."

Fort Meade center Akayela Robinson finished with just seven points, but she had a game-high six blocks, not to mention the countless shots she altered with her presence in the paint, while her partner in the paint Betie Morris used her height to give Avon Park fits down low.

"Robinson is very tall and we had to adjust our game because she was blocking so many shots," Tate said. "She was tough to guard and also play against, especially after a long layoff. They had two tall girls and we just didn't have enough in the tank to deal with both tonight.

"This was a real eye-opener for this team."

Avon Park held a 30-25 lead with six minutes left in the quarter, but that lead dwindled in a hurry as Fort Meade held AP scoreless for a five minute stretch during a 15-4 run to take a 40-34 lead into the fourth quarter, which turned out to be the turning point of the game.

Avon Park coach Willie English, who served as head coach with Paulette Daley out sick, said the Fort Meade front line clogged up the middle and the outside shots weren't falling for the Red Devils.

"Robinson gave us fits all night long and you team her with Betie Morris and you have a strong combination that we had a hard time countering," English said. "I'm proud of the girls for battling back and we had our chances to win this game and we'll just have to learn from this game and move on."

Avon Park scored the first five points of the fourth and tied the score at 42 on a 3-pointer by guard Beonca Godfrey off a steal by Brekayla English.

Moments later, Ja'Mee Hawthorne sank a 10-footer to give Avon Park its first lead since early in the third quarter.

Fort Meade's Angel Mitchell hit four straight from the free throw line and Hawthorne was fouled after converting on a layup to tie the game at 46 with 1:21 left to play, but she couldn't complete the 3-point play and Lolitha Jones sealed the game for the Miners with a pair from the charity stripe.

"We've got to do a lot better from the free throw line if we're going to be a team that wins in the playoffs," Tate said. "There was no excuse to miss that many and still have a chance to win.

"Those missed free throws were the story of the game for us."

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the Red Devils haven't played since Nov. 24 against Okeechobee and the team looked sluggish throughout the game.

The game was more or less a three-on-three contest, as 85 percent of the scoring for both teams was limited to just six players.

Godfrey (14 points), Hawthorne (16 points) and Tate (11 points) accounted for 41 of the team's 47 points, while Angel Mitchell scored a game-high 21 points, including four 3-pointers, led the way for the Miners to go along with Morris's 12 points and Robinson's seven points.

After taking a 15-11 lead after the opening stanza, it took Godfrey's coast-to-coast sprint that led to an easy layup to give Avon Park a 23-21 lead into the locker room at half time.

Avon Park is back on the court Friday when they face Hardee in a Class 4A-District 10 match-up.

Chris Hoffman can be reached at 863-386-5837 or choffman@highlandstoday.com

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