District domination

Even with weary legs, the Avon Park boys basketball team had just enough juice to motor past another county rival.

And polish off its perfect district record.

Alonzo Robertson scored a game-high 19 points, Avierre Conner added 17 and the Red Devils beat Lake Placid 62-45 on Friday night to extend their winning streak to nine games.

"We were a little tired tonight, a step off I think," said Avon Park coach Luther Clemons, and for good reason.

The Red Devils (21-1) were 24 hours removed from a draining victory over Sebring, a game that was tight until late in the fourth quarter. They improved to 12-0 in the district, having already wrapped up the No. 1 seed for the district tournament without exerting much effort. And they also completed a clean sweep of their two area rivals, after beating both Sebring and Lake Placid by double figures in all four contests.

"We did didn't we?" Clemons said after the game. "We finished off the district, too."

And that, of course, was the ultimate goal for this team, which has stated openly its intentions of playing deep into the postseason. With a performance like this - which, by the way, was far from flawless - the Lakeland Center seems a likely landing spot.

Avon Park's only setback this season was a 20-point home loss to sixth-ranked First Academy on Jan. 5, a defeat that Clemons says now was "instrumental in what's happening," referring to the Red Devils' recent sustained success.

Still, "we've got to learn to get a lead and maintain it," Clemons said. "If we want to be a postseason team, we have to learn that."

The Red Devils did just that Friday, racing to a 20-point lead in the second quarter when their explosive guards, Van'Derkel Clayton and Conner, pushed the tempo and got easy baskets in transition. They ran an undermanned Lake Placid team all over the court, as the Green Dragons continue to learn how to play with a short bench - leading scorer Deondre Chisolm was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons - and handle bigger, more physical players in the post.

"We played pretty well," said Lake Placid coach David Veley, whose team dropped to 10-11 overall. "They're a good team, and they're 21-1 for a reason. They're deep, too, and that's a huge plus."

Lake Placid hung around early before a 12-3 Avon Park run closed out the first half and gave the Red Devils a 37-18 lead at halftime. The Green Dragons scored seven straight points to start the third quarter, cutting their deficit to 12, but Avon Park surged further ahead with strong interior play by Robertson.

"They're a big, physical team," Veley said. "We've got guys that can fight, but we don't have that kind of size in the post."

Lake Placid made one final run in the fourth quarter, when it trailed 52-38 with 3:18 left, but Clayton made a layup and Robertson converted a three-point play to push the Red Devils' lead back to 19 while eliminating any lingering doubts.

"This season we've been able to go and do what we need to do to win the game," Clemons said.

Lake Placid had three players score in double figures, led by Devontray Flemming, who scored 15 points. Andre Wilson added 13 and Thaddeus Legree had 10 for the Green Dragons, who host Hardee on Tuesday night.

Avon Park is back on the road Tuesday at Auburndale.