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Lake Placid Vanquishes Vanguard

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Lake Placid's Avery Young shoots over Vanguard's Grant Fiorentones 15 and Ronnie Hughes during Monday night's game.

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By MARK PINSON Highlands Today

Published: January 14, 2009

LAKE PLACID - Kirk Veley poured in a team-high 20 points and Lake Placid's half-court press forced 21 turnovers as the Green Dragons outlasted a pesky Vanguard School by a score of 68-61 on Monday night.

The hard-fought, non-district win improved Class 3A Lake Placid to 3-8 on the season and avenged an early-season loss to the Panthers.

"We came out with a lot of energy and managed to beat a good Vanguard team," said first-year Green Dragon coach David Veley. "We had a big lead and let Vanguard get back in the game, but we challenged the kids at halftime and they responded with a good effort.

"We lost at Vanguard earlier this season and it's nice to bounce back and beat them on our court."

Lake Placid came out on fire as Andre Wilson scored six points and the Green Dragon press forced numerous turnovers which were converted into easy baskets.

Senior forward Travalier Sholtz added five points and Devontra Flemming chipped in with four points and three steals as Lake Placid led 23-6 heading into the second quarter.

"We came out and played with a lot of intensity and used our quickness to take Vanguard out of its game," said Coach Veley. "Defensively we played tough and I liked the way we hit the boards.

"We played hard and as a team the entire game and that's the kind of effort we need the rest of the season if we want to be successful."

Vanguard, behind the outside shooting of Josie Balentine, who finished with 11 points, and Ronnie Hughes, who hit back-to-back 3-pointers, pulled within four points as the Green Dragons went ice cold from the floor.

Panther center, 6-foot-10 inch Grant Fiorentones, who scored a game-high 26 points and pulled down 18 rebounds, dominated the paint and scored nine points to give Vanguard a 29-26 lead at the half.

"We told the kids at halftime to just run our offense and keep working hard on defense," said the LP coach. "We forced the tempo with our press and that allowed us to get some easy baskets and take control of the game.

The Green Dragons, led by Avery Young's four points and Veley's 10 points, which included two 3-pointers, took a 48-43 lead into the final eight minutes.

Lake Placid ran its offense and Von Moore scored six points and Veley added six as the Green Dragons held off the Panthers for the win.

"Our half-court trap was big for us and is something we depend on," said Coach Veley. "I thought we did a good job rebounding the ball and playing physical in the paint.

"It was a good win and we need to build on it."

Lake Placid is back in action with a district home game against McKeel Academy on Friday night.

GIRLS SOCCER

Lake Placid 2, Clewiston 2

Lake Placid's Yuribia Terrones and Erica Resendiz scored goals, but Clewiston managed to tally a late goal to tie the Green Dragons 2-2 in girls soccer on Monday night at Roger Scarborough Memorial Stadium.

The match was the last of the regular season for Lake Placid, which finished the season with a record of 9-1-2.

Both ties came against Clewiston.

"It was a good match and we had the lead until the last seven minutes of the game," said first-year Green Dragon coach John Merlo. "We didn't clear the ball away from our goal and Clewiston took advantage of it.

"I'm proud of the girls because we had a good regular season and now we're just getting ready for the district tournament next week."

Mark Pinson can be reached at 863-386-5837 or mpinson@highlandsatoday.com

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