Blue Streaks Scrape Past Tigers

SEBRING -- It may have been a preseason game, but Thursday night's finals of the Tip-Off Classic between Sebring and Cocoa had the feel and intensity of a postseason matchup.

The Blue Streaks, led by Whitney Lee's outside shooting and the inside play of Hannah Shoop, held off the Tigers 53-51, in a physical affair at Sebring High School.

Lee, a 5-foot-10 senior forward, scored a team-high 14 points, mostly on perimeter jumpers, while Shoop added 13 points, 10 rebounds and dished out five assists.
"It feels good to come out with a win," said Sebring senior point guard Brenita Grant. "We knew Cocoa was good and we had to step our game up.

"We played good and this kind of win gives us a lot of confidence, but we still have a whole lot of room for improvement."

Sebring edged LaBelle in Tuesday night's opening round of the preseason tournament, while Cocoa routed Hardee with its stingy man-to-man defense.

Playing against a big, physical squad like the Tigers will only help the Blue Streaks down the road.
"I was pleased with our effort and hustle and we did a lot of things right tonight," said Sebring first-year coach Mike Lee. "Cocoa is an athletic team with good height and we worked hard to prepare for their man-to-man defense.

"When we ran our offense properly, we got good looks. "But a few times in the second half especially, we shot the ball a little too quickly and we just need to be a little more patient."

Sebring took a 15-11 lead heading into the second period, with Shoop scoring four points and dominating play in the paint, and Grant scoring four of her nine points on drives to the basket.
The Blue Streaks took advantage of numerous second-chances and Whitney Wells scored on a rebound basket to extend the lead to 21-13 with 4:55 remaining in the quarter.

"After watching the tape of Cocoa on Tuesday night, my big concern was rebounding," coach Lee said. "But we got good inside position, boxed out well and held our own on the boards against a big team."

Cocoa, behind Tyseka Robinson's team-high 14 points, closed the period with a 9-5 run to narrow its deficit to 26-22 at the half.

The Tigers came out for the third period with a vengeance, as their full-court press forced several Blue Streak turnovers.

Inside baskets by Shannon Smith and a 3-pointer from the right wing by Lalishia Jackson put Cocoa on top 30-26, and prompted Sebring to call a time out.
"We got out of rhythm offensively," coach Lee said. "I told the girls to stay calm and work the ball inside or until they got an open look."

The Blue Streaks responded, as Chelsea Davis scored on a putback, Shoop scored on the inside, and Lee converted one-of-two free throws for a 31-30 lead. The teams swapped baskets and Sebring took a 40-38 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.

Cocoa's Navashia Ingram buried a 3-pointer and Shanel Jones scored on a drive to give the Tigers their last lead at 43-42 with under four minutes remaining.

The Blue Streaks answered as Wells and Shoop scored in the paint and Lee nailed a baseline jumper.
Cocoa made one last run behind back-to-back 3-pointers from Jackson to pull within 52-48.
Grant was then fouled on a drive and made a free throw with 8.1 seconds remaining to make Robinson's 3-pointer at the buzzer meaningless as the Blue Streaks held on for the win.

"Brenita did a great job of handling the ball under pressure and running our offense," Lee said. "We had solid games from Whitney and Hannah and we got a chance to use our bench.

"This was a good game for us to win and it's a great teaching tool for me as a coach, because we have
a lot of work ahead of us."