Coming on strong

Already an Internet sensation, the Sebring Blue Streaks scripted their own ending this time.

Tevin Toney had 14 points and seven rebounds, and Sebring established a double-digit fourth-quarter lead and kept Haines City at bay the rest of the way. The result was a satisfying 67-53 win Tuesday that kept the resurgent Blue Streaks in the thick of the district race - and took a little bit of sting out of their embarrassing loss in December.

Last time these teams played, Haines City won the opening tip in overtime and held the ball for the entire period, as all five Sebring players stood inside the 3-point line and waited. The Hornets eventually drove the lane and won on a buzzer-beating shot, and the now-infamous video made its way onto YouTube, gaining nearly 70,000 hits.

At the end of this one, Sebring emptied its bench and poured it on with dunks and uncontested layups.

Quite a difference a month makes.

"We're not going for that anymore," Sebring coach Princeton Harris said, smiling.

Much has changed since that previous matchup, of course. For starters, the Blue Streaks are winning - Tuesday's victory marked their seventh in a row. They are executing. They are well-conditioned.
The evidence came in the fourth quarter, when the Blue Streaks' nine-point lead looked shaky. Harris called a timeout and said, simply: "We're up nine and we're not going to lose this lead."

That's it. No clipboard toss or shoe stomp or lineup change.

"They came back and responded," Harris said, "and they're doing what we ask them to do."

Playing the second game of a back-to-back, Sebring displayed sufficient energy while pounding an undersized Haines City team in the paint. Part of that can be attributed to Harris' willingness to deploy his bench players (nine players saw at least 8 minutes of game action). He did so Tuesday while tinkering with a three-guard lineup because they're bigger than most teams in the middle, with 6-foot-8 Robert Campbell.

"We've got to get other guys in the mix now," Harris said, "and we've got to find out who we can use."

Not surprisingly, then, the Blue Streaks had four players score in double figures, led by Toney's 14. Toby Solebello scored 12. So, too, did Devin Clarke. And Joe Young had 10 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

"They got after it and they just picked up the intensity," Harris said.

Sebring struggled mightily from the field, got outworked near the rim and was sloppy with its passes in the first quarter. Despite all of that, the Blue Streaks fought back to post a 29-25 lead at halftime, behind the determined, physical play of Toney.

They stretched their lead to 12 at the end of the third quarter, pulling away with, of all things, hustle plays. Those would seemingly be in short supply after back-to-back games.

Apparently not.

With three weeks left until the district tournament, Sebring is fighting to claim the highest possible seed. The Blue Streaks will play unbeaten Osceola on Friday, before crucial games next week against Lake Wales and Ridge, both of which sport similar records to Sebring's.

"We're playing our best basketball," Harris said, "and this is the right time to do it."