Team Play Lifts LP OVer McKeel

LAKE PLACID - Slowly but surely, the Lake Placid boys basketball team is becoming just that - a team.

When leading scorer and team leader Conlin Veley went down with an ankle injury midway through the third quarter of Friday night's district game against McKeel Academy, the Green Dragons didn't miss a beat, as sophomore guard Thaddeus Legree and senior center Travalier Sholtz picked up the scoring slack to lead Lake Placid to a 67-61 win over the Wildcats.

"Conlin's one of our key players, and when he went down, we knew we had to step up because this was a big district game for us," Sholtz said. "Everybody on the team contributed and we're learning to depend on each other even when things don't go right.

"We've been working hard in practice to stay focused and get the ball to the open man, and it paid off tonight."

The win improved the Class 3A Green Dragons to 8-8 overall and 3-2 in District 10 play.
"I'm pleased with the win and how the guys stepped up when Conlin went down," said second-year Lake Placid coach Levi Williams. "I can't say enough about Thaddeus, because he hit some big threes and Travalier did a good job of scoring and rebounding on the inside.

"We were patient and executed our high-low offense much better in the second half and that was the difference in the game."
The loss dropped McKeel to 4-9 overall and 0-2 in district.

Lake Placid opened the game strong as Legree buried back-to-back 3-pointers and Veley scored five points in the paint for a 13-9 lead after the first eight minutes.

McKeel roared back with a 9-0 run to open the second period, as forward Brad Bozeman scored nine of his game-high 25 points and Aernell Jones added five of his 12 points to give the Wildcats an 18-13 lead with 4:13 remaining.

"We stopped working the ball inside and fell in love with our jump shots," said Williams. "We had the physical advantage down in the paint with Travalier and we had to get back to running our offense and taking advantage of that."

After a timeout, the Green Dragons answered with a flurry, as Veley poured in 13 of his team-high 22 points and Andre Wilson scored at the buzzer for a 28-25 halftime lead.

The third quarter started out great for Lake Placid as Veley threw down a vicious dunk on an alley-oop pass and Legree, who finished with 16 points and five steals, scored on a layup and a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Dragons a 35-26 lead midway through the period.

Veley twisted his ankle going for a rebound and McKeel answered, as Jones hit consecutive 3-pointers and Bozeman added five points to pull the Wildcats within 48-42 with under a minute remaining in the quarter.

Legree hit a big 3-pointer and LP took a 52-42 lead into the final eight minutes.

McKeel refused to fold as Cornelius Toney scored seven of his 20 points, Bozeman added eight points and several Dragon turnovers led to easy baskets as the Wildcats tied the game at 60 with 3:22 left to play.

Marcus Waugh hit one of two free throws to give LP the lead, and Sholtz added a bucket and a free throw for a 64-61 lead with under two minutes remaining.

The Dragons went to a stall to run time off the clock and Veley gamely checked back into the contest.
McKeel missed a tying 3-pointer and Veley pulled down the rebound and was fouled with 26 seconds left in the game.

The Lake Placid senior calmly made both attempts to seal the win.

"I'm happy for the kids," Williams said. "They were able to re-focus and came out with a big win despite a lot of adversity. This gives us back-to-back wins and gets us back in the district race."