Dragons Block Bulldogs

Despite missing more than a quarter of action because of foul trouble, Lake Placid freshman forward Jamacia Gayle scored a game-high 23 points and senior guard Kaneisha Hamilton added 18 to lead the Green Dragons to a 66-50 win over Frostproof in the semifinals of the Class 3A-District 10 tournament on Friday night.

With the win, second-seed Lake Placid advanced to the district finals on Saturday night against No. 1-seed McKeel Academy, which eliminated Mulberry in Friday's other semifinal. (Results from the championship game were not available at press time, but visit highlandstoday.com/sports for result and see Monday's Highlands Today for complete coverage."

"This win means a lot to me since it's my senior year," Hamilton said. "Some of those fouls weren't right and we were mad sitting on the bench.

"When we got back in the game we just played ball and took off because we didn't want our season to end tonight."

The hard-fought win over the Bulldogs was definitely a team effort and it secured a berth in next week's state playoffs for the first time in four years for the youthful Green Dragons.

"It feels great to beat Frostproof and reach the finals," said Lake Placid coach Shonda Legree. "Our reserves stepped up, played scrappy ball and helped us keep the lead when our starters were on the bench.

"We're a young team, but we played with a lot of intensity because we weren't ready for the season to be over."

Lake Placid took control early in Friday night's contest as Gayle, who pulled down 10 rebounds, powered her way to eight points in the paint and Hamilton added four from the outside as the Green Dragons took a 14-10 lead into the second period.

"Jamacia is a beast around the basket when she wants to be," Legree said. "She dominated the paint and either scored or got fouled.

"She is only a freshman, but I have high expectations for her because she is coachable and wants to improve."

Frostproof, which was led by center Jessica Tate's 13 points, got seven points from Khadijah Howell and five from Ebony Allen to pull within 29-26 at the half.

Gayle and Hamilton picked up their fourth fouls midway through the third quarter, but Meesha Munnings scored four points and Stephiny Smith added four to give the Green Dragons a tenuous 45-40 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

Gayle exploded for nine points and Hamilton forced three turnovers and scored 10 points as Lake Placid steadily pulled away.

Tate scored eight points for the Bulldogs, but it wasn't near enough as the Green Dragons ran out the clock to secure the win.

Lake Placid, which was swept by McKeel in the regular season, hopes the home court advantage pays off with a district title.

"We played McKeel tough here at home," said Legree. "We've worked on what they threw at us at their place and hopefully, we don't get nervous and lose our focus."

A win gives the Green Dragons a home game in next week's regional quarterfinals, but a loss sends them on the road.

"We're playing well right now and we're at home in front of our fans," Legree said. "We want to win the district championship, but no matter what happens we know we're going to play another game next week.

"We just need to come out ready to play four quarters of basketball."