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Tornadoes Twist Past Streaks

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Sebring senior forward Whitney Lee scores two of her game-high 13 points as Sarasota Booker's Kay Larkins (3) defends during the fourth quarter of Saturday night's Class 4A-District 10 championship game in the Tornadoes gym.

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By Mark  Pinson | Highlands Today

Published: February 4, 2008

SARASOTA – When you're in a tight game on the road, you don't expect to get the close calls.

That was the case in Saturday night's Class 4A-District 10 championship game between Sarasota Booker and Sebring.

Booker's Brittani Williams made two free throws with 1.6 second remaining in overtime to give the Tornadoes a 39-37 win over the Blue Streaks.

Williams, who finished with 10 points and six rebounds, drove to the basket along the baseline as the final seconds ticked down in overtime and threw up a prayer.

The shot didn't come close to going in, but a foul was called on Sebring and Williams made the most of her opportunity by converting both attempts from the charity stripe.

The Blue Streaks last-second shot fell short, as did their hopes for another district title.

"I'm not going to blame our losing on one play," said Sebring first-year coach Mike Lee. "We have only ourselves to blame because it shouldn't have come down to that.

"We were the number one seed and we had plenty of opportunities to win this game, but we didn't shoot the ball well and made some mental and physical mistakes that cost us in the end."

Booker, the No. 2 seed, lost twice to Sebring in the regular season, but after rallying from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit against Avon Park in Friday night's semifinals, the Tornadoes blew into the finals with plenty of momentum.

"Give Booker credit," said Lee. "They played well, they had the home crowd cheering them on and they made it a very physical game. "They made some big plays down the stretch and took advantage of their opportunities."

Both teams came out cold from the floor, but senior forward Whitney Lee connected on a 3-pointer and Whitney Wells added three points to give the Blue Streaks a 9-7 lead heading into the second period.

Priscilla Adams scored four points in the paint and Lee chipped in with five points, including another 3-point bomb, as Sebring took an 18-16 lead into the half.

"We had the lead, but we should have been up a lot more at the half," said Mike Lee. "We did a good job rebounding, but we missed a bunch of inside shots and that's frustrating."

Booker's Kay Larkins, who finished with a team-high 12 points, scored four and Chelsea Brown added six points as the Tornadoes closed to within one point heading into the final eight minutes.

The score was tied with under a minute to go in regulation, and after a Sebring turnover, Booker held the ball for the last shot.

In what would be a precursor to the overtime play, Williams drove the baseline, drew some contact, and threw up an off-balance shot.

No foul was called, the Blue Streaks rebounded the ball and the teams got ready for the four-minute overtime period.

"We wanted to get the last shot in regulation, but we turned the ball over," said the Sebring coach. "We were fortunate to be going into overtime."

The Blue Streaks trailed by two points in the extra period, but Brenita Grant, who finished with six points, scored on a layup to tie the game at 37 with 38.3 seconds remaining.

Booker held the ball until the final few seconds when Williams used a screen to get loose along the left baseline and drew the foul.

The frustration of the loss was painfully evident on the faces of the Sebring players as they trudged off the court in disbelief, many with tears rolling down their cheeks.

"The girls put in a lot of effort and worked extremely hard to win a district championship and it hurts when you don't realize your goals," said Mike Lee. "It should hurt, but we've got another game to prepare for."

The Blue Streaks (18-7) travel to Haines City (21-5) to take on the Hornets at 7 p.m. Thursday in the regional quarterfinals.

"Haines City is loaded," said the Sebring coach. "But we're going to practice hard and be ready to go come Thursday."

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