Blue Streaks Open With Win

SEBRING -- Using its superior height and athleticism, the Sebring boys basketball team opened the season with a convincing 50-36 win over Sonrise Christian Academy in the Pre-Season Classic on Tuesday night.

Junior guard Chris Grubb led the way with seven assists, three steals and a game-high 17 points.

"Chris worked very hard on his game over the summer and has really improved," said Blue Streak coach Princeton Harris. "He did a good job of driving to the basket, and he also got some good looks from the outside in our offensive sets.

"It's good to get that first win, but there are a number of things that we need to work on to get better as a team."

Sebring took control from the opening tip-off and stormed out to a 30-19 lead at the half, thanks to the play of Joe Young, and seniors T.J. Williams and Sam Robinson.

Young had eight points, while Williams chipped in with 10 and Robinson added six points and five rebounds.

"Joe played on the junior varsity last season and is going to be big contributor to this team," Harris said. "I was really happy with the way T.J. and Sam played because they've only had a couple of practices since football ended last week.

"We have a nice blend of underclassmen and seniors and we just need to get a few more games under our belts."

Sebring dominated the boards and forced the Seminoles to shoot from the outside most of the game.

The Blue Streaks had a few turnovers in the second half against the Sonrise defense, but were never seriously threatened in the season-opening win.

Sebring plays Lake Gibson at 7:30 tonight in the finals.

"We're going to have to step it up against Lake Gibson because they've got some athletes," Harris said. "This will be a good test for us and we'll see how we stack up against them."