Avon Park prepared, excited for regional semis

Luther Clemons knows what to expect tonight against Berkeley Prep.

Heck, the Avon Park coach saw virtually the same team five days earlier.

"They're carbon copies of each other," Clemons said of Berkeley Prep (Tampa) and Tampa Catholic, which Avon Park defeated 53-48 last Thursday to advance to the regional semifinals for the first time in a decade.

"You can look at one and see the other. And we've just got to come out and play."

Berkeley Prep (18-10), which lost to Tampa Catholic in the district title game, works primarily on the perimeter, relying on its speed and outside shooting to keep opposing teams off balance. Tampa Catholic tried a similar game plan against the Red Devils, but experienced mixed results.

The Crusaders kept it close in the first half, before Alonzo Robertson and Cleveland Nobles, Avon Park's predominant post players, negated Tampa Catholic's team speed and went to work inside. They drew fouls. They commanded double teams. They crashed the boards and played strong defense in the paint, contesting every shot.

"We stuck with the game plan really well," Clemons said, though he conceded the victory was far from perfect.

After opening a 10-point lead in the second half, the Red Devils (24-3) committed careless turnovers on three consecutive possessions, allowing Tampa Catholic to score easy baskets in transition and trim its deficit to four points with less than 3 minutes to play.

"We need to handle that," Clemons said, "because if we don't, it's going to end up biting us down the road."

Still, Robertson finished with a team-high 14 points, and senior guard Avierre Conner made enough free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Now, they'll face a Berkeley Prep team that needed overtime to beat Mulberry, which, of course, spoiled the Red Devils' bid for a Class 3A-District 9 championship 10 days ago.

Two wins from the Final Four, Clemons suggested that these Red Devils are relishing their spot among the school's best aggregations. They already have set the school record for most wins to start a season - 12 - while they are believed to be the first team since 2000 to win their regional quarterfinal game.