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Booker's Stifling Defense Knocks Sebring Out Of Playoffs

BRIAN GJURGEVICH/HIGHLANDS TODAY

Booker's Chelsea Brown (left) and Alicia Jackson play suffocating defense on Sebring's Hannah Shoop on Tuesday during the Tornadoes' 38-34 victory over the Streaks in the Class 4A regional semifinals in Sarasota.

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By Brian Gjurgevich | Highlands Today

Published: February 14, 2008

SARASOTA – The Sebring girls basketball team came into Booker High School looking for revenge.

What they got was a replay.

"We couldn't get our shots off or find the holes we needed to score," said Blue Streak junior Shoop. "It was exactly like last time."

Booker's defense suffocated Sebring's attack on Tuesday night, holding the Blue Streaks to four points in the third quarter and no points in the final 4:20 of the game as the Tornadoes pulled off a 38-34 victory over the Streaks in the Class 4A regional semifinals.

It was the fourth meeting of the year between the District 10 foes, and the second straight postseason victory for Booker, which defeated Sebring in overtime 39-37 in the district finals a week ago.

"They took us out of what we wanted to do," said Sebring coach Mike Lee. "When we made a pass, they were there. They didn't give us any room to breathe."

Booker junior Kay Larkins had 11 points –– all in the second half –– and junior Letayvia Butler added 10 more, but it was the Tornado defense that led them into the regional finals. Coach Wade McVay said his team went man-to-man in the final three minutes for the first time all night and the results were clear: Sebring's offense looked out of sorts, calling two timeouts in the final two minutes and forcing shots from the outside.

"We didn't want to play man all night, because their bench is deeper than ours," McVay said. "We figured as long as our zone was working, we'd stick with it, but they took a lead and I had to go man.

"And it worked."

Coach Lee put the loss squarely on his shoulders, saying that he didn't have his Streaks prepared to overcome what he called their "Achillie's heel" all season — tough man-to-man defense.

"I should've done a better job," Lee said. "At the end of the game, we couldn't execute because of their defense. They played hard and did what I asked, I just didn't have them prepared to compete in that phase of the game."

Senior Whitney Lee led the Streaks with 14 points, while junior Hannah Shoop added 10 points, sophomore Emmanice McCullors had four points and senior Chelsea Davis added three.

Senior Brenita Grant said the Booker defense was tough enough to deal with, and the Streaks made it tougher with poor decisions.

"They stepped up their defense and played with a lot more intensity," Grant said. "We didn't take care of the ball, and we threw it away too much."

Lee had nine points in the first half to lead the Streaks to a 20-18 lead after two. The game never swung past four points in either direction, and Booker took its first lead of the game after a breakaway steal and layup by Larkins to put them up 26-24 with three minutes left in the third quarter.

Carrying a four-point lead into the final frame, the Tornadoes watched Sebring mount a comeback via a Lee 3-point bomb from the left wing to go up 32-31 and a McCullors bucket on the baseline put Sebring up 34-31 with 4:20 left to play.

But Booker went on a 7-0 run to close out the game to seal the victory and perhaps usher in a new pecking order in District 10.

"Sebring's been the top dog in this district for a while," McVay said. "They have a great program, and I love their coach and respect them very much. It's been a long time coming for us — and now, everyone will be shooting for us next year."

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