A redeeming effort

This looked familiar: Markida Hawthorne at the free-throw line, game still undecided in the final minute, nerves already frayed.

What a difference a week makes.

Hawthorne scored five of her game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter, and Avon Park avenged a stunning last-second loss by beating Sebring 54-44 on Thursday night.

"I believed in myself this time and knew I could make it," Hawthorne said. "When I was at the line, I just zoomed out the crowd and focused."

That didn't happen nine days ago against Sebring. Down by one, Hawthorne drove the lane and was fouled with 0.8 seconds left.

Make both free throws and the Red Devils win. Make one and force overtime.

She missed both.

After the last attempt rimmed out, Sebring players leaped off the bench to celebrate, fans rushed the court and Hawthorne trudged back to the Red Devils bench with her hands on top of her head.

Not this time.

"She put them in, finally," Avon Park coach Paulette Daley said, laughing. "She's really been stepping up for us. It wasn't a perfect win, but we'll take the win, nonetheless."

Leading by four at the end of the third quarter, Avon Park took advantage of a coaching miscue and limited Sebring to just seven fourth-quarter points.

Hawthorne sank two free throws to push the lead back to eight with 2:30 left, then made two more in the final minute. Johntavia Perry sealed the win with an emphatic block on a 3-point attempt that could have potentially cut the deficit to five.

"It's a big win for us," Hawthorne said. "We just needed to get motivated, get hyped and we knew we were going to win this game."

Avon Park established a 30-19 lead at halftime, after Johnequa Perry (14 points) rattled off eight straight points - all layups - and Sebring struggled with its outside shooting.

The Blue Streaks (4-5) worked the ball around the perimeter until they got the shots they wanted.

They just couldn't make them.

That changed in the second half, however, when Madison Rose sank two 3-pointers and Emmanice McCullors began scoring in the paint to pull the Blue Streaks within four points, 41-37, at the end of the third quarter.

But before the final period began, Sebring coach Mike Lee made two decisions that immediately backfired. He switched from a man-to-man defense to zone, and he pulled McCullors - as he did in last week's game - to give her a quick break, hoping to keep her fresh for the final minutes.

Avon Park quickly scored six straight points to push the lead back to 47-39, an advantage it didn't relinquish.

"In my gut, I was thinking that I wanted to keep her fresh," Lee said. "So I gave her two minutes, but that was the game. I had good intentions, but it was totally the wrong move. It's 100 percent on me. The girls played hard. I have no complaints."

McCullors scored a team-high 15 points, Rose added nine points and Shannon Williams also had nine, before fouling out with 1:17 left.

"This boosts the morale," Daley said. "They were hyped playing their rival, and they were acting crazy back there. But that's good. But that's what we want. We want them to explode that on the court. Hopefully this can push us forward."

A banged-up Avon Park team played Lake Placid on Friday night. Among the injuries suffered Thursday: Lotiea Shannon dislocated her right shoulder, Markayla English tweaked her knee and Chantel Hughley battled cramps in the fourth quarter.