Devils dropped in semis

At one point during the futility, Avon Park coach Paulette Daley spun out of her chair and keeled over, unable to watch.

No points in the second quarter. And after Tenoroc snapped out of its mid-game malaise, no chance of advancing to the finals.

Avon Park never found a rhythm, especially on the offense end, and lost to top-seeded Tenoroc, 45-28, in a bruising Class 3A-District 9 semifinal game on Friday night.

"They showed us nothing new," Daley said. "We just should have shown up tonight."

Johntavia Perry scored a team-high 11 points for the Red Devils (17-9), who never led against a Tenoroc team that advanced to the district finals against third-seeded McKeel Academy on Saturday night.

"We're better than that," said Daley, whose team split the regular-season series with the Titans, including a convincing 15-point win two weeks ago. "I just think our offense was out of sync tonight."

And that was evident from the outset, when the Red Devils made only 2 of 13 free-throw attempts in the first half. More startling was the scoreless second quarter, in which they missed everything from layups to putbacks to mid-range jumpers to 3-pointers.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything like that," Daley said. "That's horrible, to be honest with you. We're better than that."

Avon Park shifted forward Johnequa Perry toward the top of the key, hoping to catch Tenoroc off-guard by flashing its speedy guards to the basket. The game plan backfired, resulting in sloppy passes and turnovers. So, too, did the Red Devils' attempt to break the familiar halfcourt press.

"I don't know why because we've seen that a dozen times this year," Daley said. "We run it ourselves. We have the perfect offense to break that, and I don't know. ... You play for a game like this, and you've got to show up and play it."

Despite its anemic offense output, Avon Park trailed by only 10 entering the second half, after Tenoroc managed four points in the second quarter. Daley used that rallying cry in the locker room - "Hey, we're off but they're off, as well" - but it took the Red Devils 17 ½ minutes just to reach double digits, when they made it 17-10 with 6:43 left in the third quarter.

Heck, even a second-half scoring dispute went in Tenoroc's favor.

While Daley argued on the sideline that a deflection last touched Tenoroc, the Titans quickly threw a deep pass off the inbounds play and scored a layup on the other end, further frustrating the Avon Park bench. By the end of the third quarter, Tenoroc had extended its lead to 14 points.

With its offense in need of quick points, Avon Park abandoned its zone defense and shifted into a full-court press, which exposed its interior. Titans forward Arielle Durant took advantage, scoring 12 of her game-high 14 points in the third quarter despite wearing a bulky brace on her right knee.

"I've been preaching having composure and having confidence in their shots," Daley said. "I think sometimes the girls get down on themselves when they don't make one or two 3s that they normally do. But we've got to fight through that."

Tenoroc blew the game open late, when, one by one, the Red Devils starters retreated to the bench. Some, like junior Markida Hawthorne, buried their heads in a towel for the final few minutes.

"We really just got discombobulated with our offense and that was very unusual," Daley said. "I'm shocked."