Brahmans Run Past Devils

AVON PARK -- Carelessness with the ball, as in 30 turnovers, proved too much to overcome for Avon Park in Saturday night's 56-47 loss to Okeechobee in boys basketball.

The Red Devils, who were coming off a disappointing district loss to DeSoto on Friday night, got a game-high 19 points by sophomore center Cleveland Nobles, but the lack of an outside shooting threat hurt Avon Park in the second half.

The loss dropped the Class 4A Red Devils to 0-6.

"It's real frustrating because we've played well enough to win, but we haven't been able to finish games," Nobles said. "We were a little tired after Friday night, but that's not an excuse.

"We just have to keep our heads up and fight our way through it and keep working to become a better team."

With the 6-foot-7 Nobles the only real scoring threat, the Brahmans double-teamed him and dared Avon Park to beat them from the outside.

But the Red Devils, who shot only 27 percent from the field, couldn't find the range from the perimeter to open things up for Nobles in the paint.

"Santa's going to bring us a jump shot for Christmas," said Avon Park first-year coach Luther Clemons. "We're in a shooting slump right now, but we're going to keep working hard and things will start to fall our way."

The Red Devils came out strong and took a 16-12 lead as guard Ricky Taylor scored nine of his 11 points and Nobles added three in the paint.

Nobles scored on back-to-back baskets as Avon Park extended its lead to 20-12 before Okeechobee called a time out.

The Brahmans changed their defense, double-teamed Nobles the rest of the way, picked up their defensive intensity and slowly clawed their way back in the game.

Okeechobee's Timmy Williams, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, scored on a rebound basket to tie the game at 23 with under two minutes remaining

After another Avon Park turnover, David Jeune, who scored 12 points and hauled down 13 rebounds, scored on a tip-in to give the Brahmans a 25-23 lead at the half.

"Turnovers really hurt us," Clemons said. "We started out fine but we got away from what we wanted to do. "We weren't in position defensively and we never found an offensive flow.

"We lost our composure on offense and made bad decisions and bad passes and gave up some easy baskets."

Things went from bad to worse in the third period, as Okeechobee, which improved to 3-1, found the range from behind the 3-point arc.

Leshawn Henderson, who scored a team-high 13 points, buried back-to-back 3-pointers and James Shanks scored six of his 10 points, as the Brahmans opened up a 38-26 lead with under three minutes remaining in the quarter.

Jeune and Williams scored in the paint as Okeechobee took a 46-28 lead into the final eight minutes.

Avon Park refused to fold and stormed back behind Nobles on the inside, and Virgil Cooper's jumper brought the Red Devils within 50-43 with 2:53 remaining to play.

Okeechobee went to a stall and ran time off the clock with each possession and converted its free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

"I'm proud of the kids for battling back, but we can't afford to keep falling behind," Clemons said. We were a little banged up, but that's not an excuse. "We have enough players that know what to do and we just have to execute better.

"Our defensive effort is pretty good, but we have to do a better job of maintaining our composure on offense."

Avon Park is back in action with a home game against District 10 foe Braden River on Tuesday night.