Streaks hold off Dragons

Sebring coach Princeton Harris looked to his left and shook his head at the empty seats on the bench. No Tevin Toney or Joe Young here.

But at this critical juncture, the Blue Streaks escaped without them.

Marcus Dewberry scored a game-high 22 points, Toby Solebello added 18 points and Sebring swept the season series with county rival Lake Placid after a 60-51 win on Friday night.

"I can just imagine how Phil Jackson felt sitting there on the bench and not seeing Michael Jordan the year after he left," Harris said, "and wondering what you're going to do now."

Toney was on a football recruiting trip in Alabama. Young is out indefinitely while dealing with recurring health issues. The Blue Streaks forged on without them, snapped a three-game losing streak and received a big boost from one of the most unlikely catalysts.

Solebello, who has emerged as Sebring's shooting specialist, knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half, and the Blue Streaks led by as many as 17 in the third quarter. Then Lake Placid roared back, cutting its deficit to two points midway through the fourth quarter before fatigue and poor execution near the rim doomed its comeback.

Lake Placid is dealing with its own personnel issues, after leading scorer Deondre Chisolm - who averaged about 15 points and 10 rebounds per game - was kicked off the team for disciplinary reasons. That left the Green Dragons with a dearth of experienced players on the bench, and with the game so frenetic in the fourth quarter, coach David Veley didn't risk putting the ball in the hands of an unproven player.

"It was all a learning experience for us," Veley said. "We're close."

Harris literally didn't know what to expect from his team prior to Friday's game. Without Toney and Young, he figured his team was missing about 30 points and 15 rebounds. "That's a lot when you take that part away," he said.

So, in the locker room before the opening tip-off, he drew a question mark on the whiteboard.

"I asked, 'Who's going to step up?'" he said. "I asked, 'Who's going to take their place?'"

Turns out, several players were up to the challenge.

For a few minutes, Sebring, a Class 5A team, went with a smaller lineup, inserting Adarius Hollinger in the second quarter. And then it went with a forward-heavy lineup, putting rangy defenders Zack Bullock, Robert Campbell and Solebello in the post.

"It looks like a negative (not having Toney and Young)," Harris said, "but really, it's a positive for us. Our guys are continuing to play hard."

With its patchwork lineup, Sebring didn't have much of an inside threat in the first half. Not a problem: Solebello's four 3s and Dewberry's constant penetration kept Lake Placid out of position on defense. The Blue Streaks led 33-22 at the half, but saw their big lead disappear in a matter of minutes.

Lake Placid sent a jolt through the crowd with a barrage of 3-pointers in the third quarter, slicing its deficit to five points. The Green Dragons trailed by only two with 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter after a 7-0 run. But Bullock made a layup, Campbell had a crucial putback after two missed free throws and Dewberry sank a jump shot in the lane to push the Blue Streaks' lead back to eight.

Lake Placid, a Class 3A squad, took 25 seconds in the final minute before finally attempting a shot. And by then, it was too late.

"We fought hard," Veley said, "but we've still got to execute better at times."

Andre Wilson scored a team-high 14 points, and Thaddeus Legree, Devontray Flemming and Kirk Veley each had 11 points for Lake Placid, which dropped to 7-9 with two pivotal district games remaining - at McKeel Academy on Tuesday, before hosting rival and top-seeded Avon Park on Friday.

Sebring will host district foe Liberty on Tuesday, with the oft-entertaining matchup with Avon Park looming on Thursday night in the Blue Streaks gym.