BEDEVILED AGAIN

SEBRING - Chelsea Davis isn't the focal point of the Sebring girls basketball team's offense.

And, to be honest, she wouldn't have it any other way.

The senior led the Blue Streaks with 11 points and six rebounds on Tuesday night as Sebring held off arch-rival Avon Park for a 37-30 Class 4A-District 10 victory at SHS.

"My teammates did a great job spreading the floor and giving me space," said Davis, who hit three 3-pointers. "They open up shots for me."

Senior Whitney Wells added 10 points and junior Hannah Shoop had seven points and seven rebounds to pace Sebring, which held Avon Park to eight first-half points and committed only nine turnovers on the night.

But, according to Sebring coach Mike Lee, it was his less-prolific scorers who made the difference in front of a packed Blue Streak gym.

"A lot of teams will play a box-and-one against us, and really focus on [senior guard Whitney Lee]," coach Lee said. "So they overplay one side, and Chelsea's over there with a big grin on her face."

Not to mention, a big stroke in big situations: Davis, who already has a game-winning 3-point bomb under her belt this season, hit two longballs during last year's game against the Red Devils.

"The best way to get someone out of a box-and-one is for the rest of the team to score," coach Lee said. "That's what happened tonight."

What happened to Avon Park, according to coach Paulette Daily, was a breakdown of the gameplan her team has worked on all season. The Red Devils found themselves down nine with 5:27 remaining, but cut the deficit to two when junior Breanna Tate went strong to the hoop to bring the score to 32-30 with 2:40 remaining.

The Devils, however, would be held scoreless the remainder of the game, despite having numerous looks at the basket from behind the 3-point line.

"We don't have a young team - they've all been with me for a while," said Avon Park coach Paulette Daley. "They should know what to do and how big of a game this was for us.

"It was a failure of execution, and that's a frustrating situation."

Wells said her team's defensive pressure was key in the victory, and that when it came down to it, the Blue Streaks simply wanted it more.

"We followed the ball on defense," Wells said. "Instead of waiting for the pass, we were there to meet it.

"We all really wanted this game. We were feeling it."

Coach Lee said his team escaped with the win despite shooting a poor percentage from the free-throw line. The Streaks' saving grace, he said, was that they hit their charity lobs down the stretch.

"I think we hit 3-of-4 there at the end, and that was big," Lee said. "These girls haven't lost very much, so the expectation is that we're going to do what we have to do to win. I don't mean that against anyone else, I just know we're a hard-working team.

"We show up everyday, and I get everything out of them. They're very committed and they work very hard. And if you do that, you have a chance every night."

Sebring hosts Booker on Tuesday, while Avon Park hosts Okeechobee on Saturday night. Both games tip-off at 7:30 p.m.