Devils Drive Through Dragons In Boys Basketball

You wouldn't expect a basketball team to be competitive with only five days of practice under its belt.

But that's what Lake Placid was, as the Green Dragons muddled through a first-half maturation process that saw Avon Park build an 18-point lead moments into the third quarter and had first-year head coach David Veley searching for answers.

"The football players had only about eight hours of practice before their first games," Veley said. "We knew this was going to be an uphill battle to start the season, and tonight was no exception."

With a starting lineup that included a senior, three sophomores and a freshman, the Green Dragons clawed their way back into the game utilizing a balanced scoring attack to cut the AP lead to just five with just 37 seconds left in the game before ultimately falling to the more experienced Red Devils 49-41 on Monday night.

Sophomore Andre Wilson, who finished the game with 10 points, kept his team in the game by scoring seven of his team's 15 points during a first half that saw LP trail by 14 points, but easily could've turned into a laugher for the Green Dragons at the hands of their cross-county rivals.

"I didn't have my shot in the early going, but I finally got into a rhythm I was comfortable with and started knocking down some shots," Wilson said. "We're still learning to play ball with one another.

"Chemistry takes time."

On the other hand, Avon Park showed that they've got depth this year, as they built their monster lead with center Cleveland Nobles - who finished with just one-point on the night - sitting on the bench for most of the game with foul trouble.

Red Devil power forward Alonzo Robertson picked up the slack in the middle by scoring a game-high 21 points and pulling down eight rebounds. He was also an integral part of Avon Park's fourth-quarter surge that withstood the Green Dragons rally.

But a lack of success from the foul line is what concerned AP head coach Luther Clemons after the game.

"We've been working on our free throw shooting a lot in practice, but I just can't get the same kind of production from them on game night," Clemons said. "Our lack of free throws opened the door for them to rally back.

"All around, we could've played a lot better than we did tonight."

Avon Park was 8 for 23 from the charity stripe for the game and Lake Placid did take advantage of that foil in the Red Devils' armor.

After using a 10-4 run to cut the fourth quarter lead to just 12 points, Lake Placid knocked down a pair of baskets to open the final stanza to get below single digits - 37-29 - for the first time since the opening quarter.

But Robertson bullied his way inside to score eight straight Avon Park points to push the lead back up to 12 points.

"Avon Park is a really quick team and you can't afford to make any mistakes against them or they'll make you pay for them," said Lake Placid's Avery Young. "Alonzo can really jump and has good anticipation on defense and great offensive instincts around the basket. We had a real hard time keeping him from getting the ball."

With a 7-0 run during a four-minute span, Lake Placid stunned Avon Park by cutting the lead down to five points capped off by senior Travalier Sholtz putting back a missed shot by Wilson with a handful of seconds left in the game.

Free throws did come in handy for Avon Park at the end of the game, as guard Avierre Conner, who scored 13 points, drained a pair from the foul line and the Red Devils sank just enough from the charity stripe to seal the win.

The defeat wasn't the story for Veley, but how his team responded to real adversity and walked away knowing that they'll be even better midway through the season.

"In essence, we're playing our junior varsity team tonight," Veley said. "We didn't get discouraged when we went down big, but we showed that we can battle back.

"This is a game that may have turned in our favor had we had a little more practice time or games under our belt."

After Lake Placid tied the score at 11 minutes into the second quarter, Avon Park took control of the game with an 18-4 run to give the Red Devils a 29-15 half time lead.

Conner scored six points during the game-changing run.

The schedule isn't kind to the Green Dragons, as they're back on the court Friday when they host Martin County, who went 25-2 last season. LP then goes through a stretch where it plays Okeechobee, Frostproof and cross-county rival Sebring during the next two weeks.

"It's a tough schedule that I hope will build them into a battle-tested team," Veley said. "It can only help us when it comes time for our district games and our quest for a district title.

"This is our trial by fire."