Bulldogs nip Green Dragons

After leading almost the entire game, Lake Placid went ice cold from the floor and the foul line in the closing minutes, and Frostproof took advantage to pull out an improbable 37-36 win in boys basketball on Friday night in the Jim Boyd gymnasium.

The Green Dragons were led by Andre Wilson's team-high 18 points and Deondre Chisolm added 11 in the disappointing Class 3A-District 9 loss that dropped Lake Placid to 2-4, 2-2.

"It was an ugly game that neither team seemed to want to win," said Green Dragons coach David Veley. "We didn't execute the fundamentals and we missed so many scoring opportunities that Frostproof was able to stay close. Down the stretch we turned the ball over and missed several free throws and it cost us the game."

Lake Placid used its superior quickness to break down the Frostproof defense in the early part of the game, and Wilson scorched the nets for eight points to give the Green Dragons a tenuous 10-9 lead heading into the second quarter.

Lake Placid's swarming defense, which forced the Bulldogs into 21 turnovers, clamped down on Frostproof's top scorer Demetrius Cherry to extend its lead to 10 points.

But several Green Dragon turnovers led to easy baskets and Bulldogs forward CJ Morgan scored six of his eight points to trim the Lake Placid lead to 26-22 at the half.

"Each possession is important and we have to do a better job of taking care of the ball," said Veley. "We were intimidated in the first half by Frostproof's big men and we have to do a better job of making ball fakes and getting them up in the air and getting them in foul trouble."

Foul trouble landed Wilson on the bench early in the third quarter for the Dragons, who went stone-cold from the floor, and scored only five points the entire period.

The only good thing was that Frostproof was also dealing with foul trouble, and the Bulldogs managed only seven points to pull within two points heading to the final eight minutes.

After stalling for a couple of minutes to open the final period, Lake Placid put Wilson back in the game, but the Green Dragons offense was out of sync and Frostproof took its first lead on a layup by Cherry, who finished with a team-high 18 points, with under five minutes remaining.

Wilson hit a pair of free throws to give Lake Placid a 36-35 lead with 2:30 left to play, but Frostproof's Lance McBath hit a runner in the lane to put the Bulldogs on top by one with 53.3 seconds remaining.

Lake Placid missed a pair of free throws and Frostproof ran the clock down before the Green Dragons regained possession with 8.3 seconds left in the game.

Lake Placid hustled the ball up the floor and got a good look at the winning basket and several tip attempts, but the ball fell off the rim and time ran out to give the Bulldogs the unlikely district victory.

"Down the stretch we missed some easy shots, the referees got involved and we lost our composure," Veley said. "We have to come out and play to win and we're going to need some guys to step up if we're going to reach our full potential as a team. We can be a good team, but we have to get after people and play with confidence."

Lake Placid is back on the floor with a district road game at Avon Park on Tuesday night.