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Blue Streaks ready to go

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Sebring's Shannon Williams (41) was the Blue Streaks main offensive weapon in the paint last year and the junior forward will be counted on to score and defend again this season.

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By MARK PINSON

Highlands Today

Published: November 10, 2009

SEBRING - With two weeks of practice under their belts, the Sebring girls basketball team is set to open the season tonight.

The Blue Streaks are hosting the four-team Preseason Classic with LaBelle playing Bartow at 6 tonight, while Sebring faces Okeechobee at 7:30 p.m.

Sebring, which was the Class 4A-District 10 runner-up last year, made it to the regional quarterfinals where the Blue Streaks lost to Lakeland Kathleen.

This year's squad has plenty of depth and talent back from last year's team and Sebring Coach Mike Lee has been busy working with the girls to prepare for the upcoming season.

"The girls have been working hard in practice," said Lee. "I wish we had more time to prepare, but I guess every coach says that this time of the year.

"We've got a good group of girls back from last year and we've got some new girls that we're counting on to contribute this season."

Leading the way on the inside for the Blue Streaks, who lost power forward Hannah Shoop to graduation, is junior forward Shannon Williams.

The 5-foot, 10-inch Williams, who was selected to the Highlands Today All-Heartland girls basketball squad last year, is looking to improve on her 10.4 points and 9.8 rebounds a game.

"Shannon gives us a dominating presence in the paint," Lee said. "She has worked really hard on every aspect of her game and is very coachable.

"She's going to have to score for us down inside and she has the ability to rebound and alter shots close to the basket."

Senior Tangie McCullors, who averaged 5.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.3 steals a game while splitting time between guard and forward last year, is back and being counted on for an even bigger contribution this season.

"Tangie is very athletic and strong," said the Blue Streak coach. "She has natural instincts and her versatility helps us in a number of ways on offense and defense.

"She may be a guard, but she's one of the best rebounders on the team."

Senior point guard Zykeria Dawkins is back running the Blue Streak offense and her quickness gives her the ability to drive to the basket for a bucket or pull up for the mid-range jump shot.

"Zykeria is a talented player," said Lee. "She has worked hard on her ball-handling over the summer and is our quarterback. "I want her to be aggressive, but we want to cut down on the turnovers this year."

Senior Jerica Moore, who led the Heartland in floor burns last year, has the talent to knock down the 3-pointer and brings a hustling, unselfish style to the Blue Streak squad.

"Jerica is always working to improve," Lee said. "She is very coachable and will do anything to help make the team better."

Amanda Grimaldo, who played soccer the past two seasons, is playing basketball this year and gives the Blue Streaks another strong player in the paint.

"Amanda hasn't played basketball the past couple of years," Lee said. "But she's been working hard on her skills in practice and should give us a strong post player.

"She is a good athlete, is very strong and doesn't mind the physical play under the basket and I think she's going to surprise some people."

The Preseason Classic concludes on Thursday night, with Okeechobee playing LaBelle at 6 p.m., while Sebring takes on Bartow at 7:30 p.m.

"All the girls are going to play and I'm going to take a look at a number of different lineups in the two games," said Lee. "It's nice to have experience at the guard position, but we're going to keep things simple and let the girls get a feel for playing some different competition.

"We're going to play some man-to-man, some zones and we'll work on our presses and see how things look."

Sebring, which moved up from Class 4A to 5A this year, is in a very tough District 5 which includes: Haines City, Lake Wales, Liberty, Ridge Community and Winter Haven.

"Our new district has some real talented schools," said Lee. "Lake Wales is good, Haines City is tough and Winter Haven goes to the state playoffs every year.

"There aren't going to be any easy games in this district and we're going to have to show up ready to play every night if we want to be successful."

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

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