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Panthers Slay Dragons

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Lake Placid's Conlin Veley drives to the basket as Mulberry's Lee Amos defends during Friday night's Class 3A-District 10 semifinal game.

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By Mark  Pinson | Highlands Today

Published: February 10, 2008

MULBERRY — Mulberry's talented duo of forward Michael Poole and center Travon Sampson combined for 37 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Panther boys basketball team past Lake Placid 55-43 in the Class 3A-District 10 semifinals on Friday night.

The Green Dragons used a balanced offense, paced by Marcus Waugh's team-high eight points, and an aggressive defense to stay in the game in the first half.

But Mulberry's physical full-court press forced numerous turnovers, which were converted into easy points as the No. 1- seeded Panthers cruised to the easy win to move into the finals against second-seeded Frostproof, which eliminated McKeel Academy 66-25 in Friday's other semifinal.

Lake Placid senior forward Conlin Veley scored seven points before fouling out midway though the final period.

"It's a tough way to end my career," said Veley. "We played hard, but we made some mistakes on defense and gave up a lot of easy baskets on the baseline.

"We made too many turnovers to beat a team as good as Mulberry."

Both teams came out cold from the floor, but Mulberry's Sampson, a 6-foot-5 jumping jack, dominated the paint and scored nine of his 14 points to give the Panthers a 15-11 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Green Dragons (9-15) stayed close as center Travalier Sholtz scored four of his seven points and Veley added four.

Poole got hot from outside and scored nine of his game-high 23 points, including two 3-pointers, as Mulberry took a 31-20 lead into the half.

Waugh drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull Lake Placid within 10 points midway through the quarter, but Sampson scored on a putback and Poole poured in 10 points on drives to the basket to give the Panthers a 51-37 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

The game got away as Mulberry picked up its defensive intensity to force several Dragon turnovers and Veley fouled out with under six minutes remaining.

Three Panthers (14-10) went to a stall offense and ran down the clock to seal the win.

"It's been a difficult season, and it's hard to believe my high school career is over," said Veley. "But I enjoyed my three years on varsity and I'm hoping to play basketball in college."

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