AP starts 12-0, sets school record

Alonzo Robertson's one-handed dunk sent the Avon Park boys basketball team into the new year with an unblemished record.

And a bit of school history, too.

Cleveland Nobles scored a team-high 19 points, Avierre Conner sank two clutch free throws in the final 20 seconds, and the Red Devils beat Haines City 63-58 on Tuesday night to improve to 12-0 this season.

"I don't know of anybody ever doing that," Avon Park coach Luther Clemons said, after his team eclipsed the high-water mark set by the 1996 squad, which started 10-0.

Playing their first game in a week, the Red Devils received a balanced scoring attack from an offense that constantly flipped from explosive to erratic. The result, however, was the same, and five Avon Park players scored at least eight points.

There was some apprehension afterward, though: It was the second time in three games that the Red Devils needed a big fourth quarter to win, after edging district rival Mulberry 10 days ago.

"This one, we just didn't think," Clemons said. "We'd get 10- and 11-point leads, and we'd just do something unnecessary."

Haines City (6-4) hit eight 3-pointers and drew within two points with just less than a minute left in the fourth quarter. But Tekovan Miller made the front end of a one-and-one, and Robertson's one-handed slam put Avon Park up 61-56 with 30 seconds left.

After Haines City responded with a jump shot to pull within three points, Conner was quickly fouled and sent to the free-throw line, where he made two free throws with 11.2 seconds remaining to ice the win.

"I was happy to come away with the win," Clemons said.

He was also happy to see a dominant performance by Nobles, who had a strong presence inside while playing solid defense on the other end of the floor. "He needed that," Clemons said.

Conner scored 14 points, Robertson labored to 11, Miller added 9 and Van'Derkel Clayton 8 for Avon Park, which will have another week off before taking on First Academy on Tuesday. A huge district tilt looms against Mulberry on Thursday, a game that could potentially give the Red Devils a two-game lead in the district.

"We've just got to hang together and not forget the team concept," Clemons said. "When teams start winning, they start thinking they're bigger than the team. But no one is bigger than the team."