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Highlands Today

Balanced Offense Paces McKeel Past Lake Placid

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Lake Placid's Sierra Weaver (11) and McKeel Academy's Tabitha Hames battle for a rebound during the second quarter of Thursday night's Class 3A-District 10 game.

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By Mark  Pinson | Highlands Today

Published: February 2, 2008

LAKELAND — Intensity and effort kept Lake Placid close for the first half of Thursday night's Class 3A-District 10 semifinal against McKeel Academy.

But the Wildcats superior height, ability and depth proved to be the difference as they cruised to 68-37 win over the Green Dragons.

"We played together and with a lot of effort, and I'm proud of that," said senior guard Stacy Davis. "We gave everything we had, but we wore down in the second half and couldn't stay with them.
"I played varsity for three years and had a lot of fun, and I can't believe it's all over."

The win put top-seeded McKeel into the district finals against second-seeded Frostproof, which routed Mulberry in Thursday night's other semifinal.

Lake Placid, the No. 3 seed, fell behind early against a talented and disciplined McKeel squad, but the Green Dragons stormed back to trim their halftime deficit to only nine points.

But foul trouble and the lack of depth caught up with Lake Placid in the second half.

"The girls played hard and I'm proud of their effort," said Green Dragon coach Shonda Legree. "Most of our starters had foul problems and then we had trouble with McKeel's full-court press in the second half. They forced us to play full court and their depth really paid off.

"I'm very pleased with the girls, they played very aggressive the first half, but we just ran out of gas."

McKeel took the early lead when 5-foot-11 center Kristen Throckmorton dominated the inside and scored five of her game-high 15 points as the Wildcats led 19-10 heading into the second period.

Lake Placid refused to go quietly as guard Kaneisha Hamilton scored six of her team-high 12 points to pull the Dragons within 32-23 at the half.

McKeel opened the second half by utilizing a full-court press, which forced numerous LP turnovers, which the Wildcats converted into easy baskets, Guard Taylor Collins got hot from outside and scored nine of her 15 points, and Cappy Toney added four of her 11 points as McKeel opened up a 52-31 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

Throckmorton, who also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, made sure there would be no comeback, as the athletic Wildcat center poured in six points to seal the win.

"We fought the entire game and that's all I can ask for," said Legree. "We've got some girls crying because they won't be back next year, but I'm proud of all of them and we've got a good nucleus back for next year."

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