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More Drama: Sebring Sneaks Past Bartow

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Sebring's Shannon Williams finished the game with six points, 12 rebounds and a pair of blocks against Bartow during the Blue Streak Tip-Off Classic on Thursday.

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By CHRIS HOFFMAN

Highlands Today

Published: November 15, 2008

SEBRING - Jerica Moore might still be learning to play within head coach Mike Lee's offense, but the Sebring junior looked completely at ease in the fourth quarter against Bartow on Tuesday.

Moore earned the nickname "Miss Big Shot" for at least one game after hitting consecutive jumpers to break the stranglehold the Yellow Jackets had on the lead, lifting the Blue Streaks a 42-39 victory in the final game of the Tip-Off Classic.

The Blue Streak junior guard scored all nine of her points in the fourth quarter and grabbed a key rebound on the Yellow Jackets' final shot to give Sebring possession.

"I was really stressed during the first half after missing some shots," Moore said. "But I started to calm down in the second half and took advantage of some good looks in the fourth.

"I just can't let myself get down like that when things aren't going good for me early in the game. I'm thankful that this is preseason and it gave us all time to get comfortable in ourselves and as a team."

Lee has faith in his young guard, but was thankful that she had the magic touch tonight.

"I thought she came up with two huge shots for us, although she didn't have the green light to take the second one, but I'm glad she drained it," Lee said. "Jerica has been a gym rat all summer and it shows in her play.

"I fully expected her to come into the season shooting the ball well and she'll get the green light more often than not when the game is on the line."

Down 39-36 with less than three minutes to play, Sebring guard Zykeria Dawkins hit a jumper from the top of the key to cut the Bartow lead to one. A missed shot by Bartow's Julie Mahoney fell to Moore who raced up the floor and drained the 12-footer.

Bartow put up another bad shot, which was fished out by Targie McCullors, who dished it off to Moore with less than 10 seconds left to play. Instead of holding on to the ball, Moore put up another mid-range shot that hit nothing but net and gave the Streaks a three-point advantage with 8.4 seconds left to play.

Moore grabbed the loose ball on Bartow's final possession, which was batted out of bounds and McCullors held on to the in-bounds pass to seal the win.

This was the second game in a row for Sebring that went down to the final seconds, and Lee feels its a trend that isn't likely to end for the Streaks anytime soon.

"I think this will be a season of drama for us," Lee said. "I think we're going to have more than our fair share of close games and games that come down to the wire because we have such a young backcourt."

Senior power forward Hannah Shoop led the way for the Streaks with 18 points and 19 rebounds (11 offensive boards) and Shannon Williams scored six points and grabbed 12 rounds and blocked two shots in the victory.

"We just had way too many turnovers and our guards haven't the timing down to hit our forwards when they flash in the post," Lee said. "That is one of the things we'll definitely be working on all season."

Sebring opens up the season on Tuesday by hosting archrival Avon Park during an in-school game. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m.

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

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