Streaks Whirl Past Tornadoes

Three points were all that separated Sebring and Booker as they headed into the fourth quarter on Tuesday and the Streaks were haunted with the thought that their fate would follow the same path as rival Avon Park.

"That is all we were thinking about all day and especially heading into the final quarter," said Sebring senior Jake Trussell, who finished with a game-high 22 points to help his team avoid an upset loss to a lower seed. "It was win or go home, and we knew we didn't want to end the season like this."

The No. 3-seeded Streaks used an 18-5 run to open the fourth and withstood a late surge to defeat the No. 7-seeded Tornadoes 67-55 in the Class 4A-District 10 tournament at DeSoto High School on Tuesday.

With the win, Sebring will face Hardee in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Friday.

Second-seeded Avon Park was upset 66-60 by eighth-seeded Hardee on Monday's opening round, even though the 'Cats failed to win a district game all season before toppling the Devils for the second straight postseason.

The fourth quarter on Tuesday night was eerily similar to AP's nightmare, as the Streaks allowed the upset-minded Tornadoes to hang around.

"Booker came ready and hungry tonight and we allowed them to do what they wanted at points during the game," said SHS head coach Princeton Harris. "They hit shots and we missed some reads in our defensive sets.

"It's dangerous to let a team like Booker to hang around. I witnessed first-hand what Hardee did to Avon Park and I vowed that it wouldn't happen to us."

Sebring stepped up their full-court press in the fourth and it accounted for three steals and two bad passes, which led to 10 points in the opening minutes of the quarter.

Trussell looked to put the Tornadoes out of their misery after he sank a free throw to complete a 3-point play and Devin Clarke hit three from the charity stripe for the 14-point lead with just over three minutes to play.

But Booker wasn't about to go that quietly, as they pressured Sebring's guards to force turnovers that allowed them to score six unanswered points and cut the lead to eight with 2:14 left to play.

That's when the Streaks dug deep and Trussell scored six of Sebring's final eight points to preserve the win.

"My teammates were hitting me in the right position and I was feeling good about my shot tonight," said Trussell. "I'm actually glad for this tough test early on in the tournament. It shows what we need to work on and lets us know not to take any team for granted."

Harris was pleased with the outcome, but not with the overall play of his savvy squad.

"It's a win, ugly or not," said Harris. "I told the kids going into the fourth to stay focused and go back to playing the way that got you here and that's defense. "

Booker's Jamel Gaines kept the game close by scoring a team-high 21 points in three quarters of play before fouling out midway through the final quarter.

"Jamel wowed me numerous times with the shots he was making," Harris said. "He banked in a couple 3-pointers that I couldn't believe he made. You have to give him those shots if you're on defense and normally a player isn't going to make those kind of shots."

The Streaks used defense to rattle the Tornadoes in the opening minutes of the game by scoring eight straight points off of turnovers within the first minute of play to force Booker to call a timeout.

Gaines put his team on his shoulders and scored seven points to help Booker to a one-point lead after one, but Sebring regained their momentum to take the lead midway through the second before holding on to a 25-22 half time advantage.

When asked about facing Hardee, Harris refused to get trapped by overconfidence.

"Hardee has nothing to lose at this point," said Harris. "They already are Cinderellas for beating Avon Park. They're looking for upsets right now and we can't repeat the mistake of Avon Park and underestimate them."

NOTES: Joe Young finished with 11 points and Devin Clarke had 10 points, while JC Howard chipped in with eight points in the win ... Booker's Lonnie Jefferson had 13 points and Larry Polynice finished with 10 points in the loss.

4A-D10 BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

at DeSoto High School, Arcadia

FRIDAY Sebring vs. Hardee, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY Championship, 7 p.m.