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Highlands Today

Sebring falls late to Clewiston

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By RYAN LAVNER

Highlands Today

Published: November 19, 2009

AVON PARK - Careless down the stretch, the Sebring boys basketball team squandered a 10-point fourth-quarter lead during a 58-55 loss to Clewiston in the Bill Jarrett Tip-Off opener on Tuesday night.

Freshman Marcus Dewberry scored a team-high 20 points and Joe Young added 12 points for the Blue Streaks, who play Mulberry at 6 p.m. tonight in the final round of the preseason tournament in the Red Devils gym.
Sebring turned the ball over nine times in a 12-possession stretch in the fourth quarter, losing control of a game it had led throughout. The Blue Streaks committed 26 total turnovers.

"I'm upset we had as many turnovers as we did," Sebring coach Princeton Harris said, "because we're not going to win with that. But we're going to be OK. I see a lot of positives. We're not hurting at all."
Sebring led 40-35 at the end of the third quarter, stretching its lead to 46-36 with 5:19 remaining. Then Clewiston went on a run, highlighted by Demetris Allen's one-handed dunk and punctuated by Johnny Jackson's 3-pointer, which gave the Tigers their first lead since the first quarter.

The Blue Streaks drew within a point, 52-51, when they turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions, allowing Clewiston's lead to balloon to four.
Devin Clarke missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 20 seconds left and Clewiston made three free throws to put the game out of reach.
Dewberry had three steals and eight turnovers in his non-official varsity debut, and Jewel Campbell added eight points, 16 rebounds and four blocks for the Blue Streaks.

Sebring, which last year won the district championship before losing in the regional quarterfinals to Kathleen, will open the regular season on Monday against Winter Haven in the Blue Streaks gym.

By then, Harris said the team should begin to uncover its identity offensively, while solidifying its starting lineup and establishing role players.

"That's what this is for," he said.

Ryan Lavner can be reached at 863-386-5841 or rlavner@highlandstoday.com

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