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Tigers Feast On Streaks

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Sebring's Joe Young battles for a rebound against Palmetto's Reggie Baty during Friday's district match-up.

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By CHRIS HOFFMAN

Highlands Today

Published: December 7, 2008

SEBRING - Princeton Harris walked over to the scorer's table and asked for the free-throw count after Sebring's 74-68 loss to Palmetto in the Class 4A-District debut for the Streaks this season on Friday.

The Sebring boys basketball head coach wasn't happy one bit at the bad news that followed - 19 of 36 from the line - as he made a b-line for the locker room.

"I let the team know that I wasn't happy at all at our lack of production from the free-throw line," Harris said. "I tried to be calm about it, but if we would've made half of the 17 shots we missed, we could've won the game. "

The misery from the free throw line wasn't the only storyline in the battle between the Streaks and Tigers, as it was a rematch from last season's district playoff first round.

"We had all the fuel that we needed coming into this game," said Sebring point guard Chris Grubb. "Coach said this was going to be a dogfight, and it was that and more."

The physicality of the game brought a battle for position every possession with players falling by the wayside against the oncoming rush of momentum.

The war on the court turned into a war of words after the game, as Sebring's Jewell Campbell and Palmetto's Trevante Rhodes exchanged harsh words that infuriated Campbell, who had to be restrained by his teammates at half court.

"I like to see that kind of passion from my players, but I'm glad things didn't escalate," Harris said. "I think the team's pride was bruised and they knew they were better than the way they played. I'm really proud of the kids for fighting back the way they did."

Sebring, which was down by as many as 11 points in the second half, cut a six-point fourth quarter lead down to one on the strength of an 11-6 run that saw Devin Clarke and Jake Trussell combine to score seven of those points on some solid defensive play by the Streaks.

On one play during the run, Campbell blocked a shot by Palmetto's Tremayne Williams and Clarke was off to the races where he went the length of the court for a breakaway lay-up.

But with five minutes left in the game, the Streaks allowed the Tigers to dictate the tempo and a goaltending call against Campbell ignited an 8-2 run that dug Sebring a hole they wouldn't be able to get out of.

Shot selection was a huge concern of Harris' after the game, as he intended to take that up with his team in a Saturday morning workout before they traveled to face Sarasota Booker on Saturday night.

"Some guys really hurt us tonight by putting up a ton of bad shots," Harris said. "We need for our players to play within the framework of our offense and if their shot isn't falling then find the guy with the hot hand. We took way too many circus shots tonight and that really cost us down the stretch when points came at a premium."

The inside/outside game of Palmetto guard Donald Campbell and Rhodes was too much for Sebring to handle, as the duo scored 22 and 21 points, respectively.

Grubb acknowledged that the speed and allusiveness of Campbell was tough to stop in the early going and adjustments were made at half time to negate the Palmetto guard's effectiveness against the Streaks defense.

"We had to switch up our defense to put some quicker players on Campbell in the second half," said Grubb, who scored a team-high 19 points. "He really hurt us early or he was able to get the ball inside to Rhodes for an easy bucket.

"I don't think we had our head on straight coming into the game. I think the delay got us out of our rhythm and we had to fight to regain it for most of the game."

Campbell scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the first quarter to give Palmetto a 25-19 lead after the opening stanza and he dished out five assists in the second quarter when the defense started to collapse on him.

The Tigers led 42-31 at the half.

Palmetto was late getting to Sebring, which delayed the start of the girl's basketball game by more than 30 minutes.

Harris doesn't buy the delay excuse, but does feel that his team didn't have the right mindset.

"The intensity that I look for wasn't there at the start," Harris said. "We were too wild and it took us a while to get settled down and run our game plan. I'm glad the team stayed poised and we know now that we're capable of coming back on a very good team."

When asked about the district, Harris chuckled before giving his response.

"If this game is any indication, this is going to be one hell of a district," Harris said. "This goes to show you that on any given night any team can beat you. The parity in the district is astounding.

"We've seen what we're up against this season and it's going to be exciting to see what happens when everything falls into place for us."

Streaks power forward Joe Young finished with 18 points, while Clarke and Trussell each scored 11 in the loss.

Sebring will lace up the sneakers next on Tuesday when they travel to face cross-county rival Lake Placid. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Palmetto 49, Sebring 42

Shannon Williams scored a game-high 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as Sebring sank under the weight of a pivotal run by Palmetto in a 49-42 loss in a Class 4A-District 10 showdown on Friday.

With the game tied at 28 with 3:24 left in the third quarter, the Tigers went on a game-changing 21-6 run that lasted well into the fourth quarter to build a 49-33 lead and withstood a last-ditch effort by the Streaks to earn the district victory.

"We didn't come out and play the kind of defense I expect from this team in the first quarter and that hurt us," said SHS head coach Mike Lee. "We were fighting an uphill battle the entire game that forced us to spend a lot of energy to tie the game up."

The win improves the Tigers to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in district, while the Streaks drop to 2-5 and 1-4 on the season.

Palmetto's run coincidentally came after power forward Hannah Shoop went to the bench with her third foul, which gave the Tigers all the opportunity they'd need.

With Shoop on the bench, Palmetto center Ashley Smith scored eight of her team-leading 12 points in the fourth quarter during the pivotal run.

"[Palmetto] knew where to attack when Hannah was on the bench and that was down low," Lee said. "Our weak spot is our outside shooting. We don't have a real threat from long range so teams are able to clamp down on the middle. That's exactly what Palmetto did."

The Streaks defense looked lax to open the game, as the Tigers stormed out to score 15 points to take a four-point lead and the visitors held a 26-16 lead at the half by holding Sebring to just five points in the quarter.

Sebring's Maxime Copley says that the team didn't respond well to the physical-style of play at the onset from Palmetto.

"We didn't start out strong against them and they came ready to play," Copley said. "We fought so hard to get back in the game, but in the end, we let it get away from us."

Williams, whose improvement over the course of the season has been tremendous, kept the Streaks in the ballgame with her offensive rebounds and tough play inside, but the Sebring forward felt that Palmetto were the tough ones this night.

"They were really big inside and it was tough to get good shots against them," Williams said. "We got hhot there in the third quarter and were able to tie the game up, but they came back on us and we just ran out of gas."

Shoop scored 8 points and pulled down a team-high 19 rebounds, but the senior forward was held scoreless for the second and third quarters when the Tigers made their run.

The Streaks are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to square off against Frostproof. Tip-off is sset for 7:30 p.m.

Chris Hoffman can be reached at 863-386-5827 or choffman@highlandstoday.com

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