WINTER HAVEN — Three Red Devils scored in double figures on Thursday night as the Avon Park girls basketball team started slow but finished strong during a 52-32 victory over Class 2A All Saints Academy. It was the Red Devils' first action since Dec. 21, though AP coach Paulette Daley said the team showed little signs of holiday rust. "We tend to start slow anyway," she said. "But once we got our rhythm back, we picked up the pace and played at our level." ...more

January 5, 2008

AUBURNDALE — Rickey Taylor had 14 points and four other Red Devils scored more than eight points each Friday night as the Avon Park boys basketball team jumped ahead early and cruised to a 73-58 win over Victory Christian of Lakeland at the T-Mac Tournament. Avon Park led 33-22 at the half and used a 23-16 fourth quarter to pull away for the victory over the Saints. Xavier Caldwell had nine points, while Teddy Allen, Marvin Williams and Tim Dennis each added eight to pace the Devils, who took on Lake Region on Saturday. For results, see Monday's Highlands Today. ...more

December 23, 2007

AVON PARK – The electricity of the moment is what makes the rivalry between Sebring and Avon Park so special. Every basket, every possession, every second can decide the game, as it did in the Blue Streaks' 43-40 thriller on Tuesday night in Class 4A-District 10 girls basketball action in front of a raucous crowd at APHS. ...more

December 20, 2007

AVON PARK — Size is going to be a key factor for both Lake Placid and Avon Park girls basketball teams this season, but in different ways altogether. While the Red Devils have plenty of size in the post, the Green Dragons are lacking presence in the middle, a trend that was on full display during Avon Park's 40-18 win over Lake Placid on Tuesday at APHS. The Red Devils got good production inside from forwards Breanna Tate and Daija Barrett, who hauled in countless rebounds, while Avon Park's defense held the visiting Green Dragons to four points in a second quarter that saw the Red Devils build a 14-point lead at half time. ...more

November 29, 2007

AVON PARK — It may have been a long holiday weekend, but Avon Park used a suffocating defense and a balanced offense to make short work of Okeechobee by a score of 67-31 in girls basketball on Saturday night. The Class 4A Red Devils, who improved to 3-1 with the win, used their athleticism and quickness to force 23 Brahman turnovers to break the non-district game open in the second half. "We played our game tonight," junior guard Daija Barrett said. "We played as a team, ran the floor well and played as one. "Our offense was clicking, our defense was solid and this is the kind of effort we need to bring every night." ...more

November 26, 2007

AVON PARK –– The last words Avon Park girls basketball head coach Paulette Daley said before she walked off the court during the Class 4A-District 10 championship game against Sebring last season have built the foundation and set the tone for the Red Devils this year. "We'll be back," said a confident Daley. Those words are the rallying cry for the more focused and discipline squad that is devoid of senior leadership, but has the tools to push the defending-district-champion Blue Streaks to the limit. "It was a very challenging year," said Daley, who led Avon park to a 14-5 overall record last season. "The second year should be smoother, since the girls know my system and they know full well that the district title slipped out of their hands." The "oh-so-close" moniker was placed on the Red Devils last season after holding the undefeated Blue Streaks to 16 points in the first half of the district championship game, but couldn't capitalize on Sebring's off night, as the score was tied at intermission. ...more

November 13, 2007

SEBRING — The top-seeded DeSoto volleyball team played like its seeding implies, using a stifling net defense and a mixture of power and finesse on the offensive side to earn a three-game sweep (25-11, 25-16, 25-13) of No. 4-seeded Avon Park in the Class 4A-District 10 tournament on Wednesday. Several Bulldogs were battling illness, including junior outside hitter Brittany Muse, who was noticeably off her game but still came through when her team needed it the most. "I've been sick since Sunday," Muse said. "I couldn't breathe too well since I have asthma and I was making mistakes and missing shots I don't normally miss. I fought through it though, and I'm happy we are playing for the championship." Red Devil senior Nataly Berrios was in disbelief after the match — not in the loss, but the way that her team lost. "We didn't communicate and didn't really get things going until the third game, but by then it was too late," the AP senior said. "We could've done so much better. We had so much potential and I'm not satisfied. ...more

October 26, 2007

AVON PARK — Danielle Tomlinson's temper didn't get the best of her. Instead, it may have gotten the best out of her. The Avon Park junior, whose self-described "really bad" passing early in Monday's match somehow spurred the rest of her game on, had four kills and four aces to lead the Red Devils to a three-set sweep of Clewiston, 25-18, 25-18, 25-19. ...more

October 10, 2007

Hannah Shoop wishes every meeting with Avon Park went like this. ...more

September 27, 2007

AVON PARK –– A complete role reversal. The Avon Park Red Devils girls volleyball team has come full circle this season from where they were at this point in '06. Not only are they playing better as a team, but they are putting teams away instead of letting them hang around, as the new look Red Devils dispatched the Sarasota Booker Tornados 25-7, 25-14, 25-18 in a Class 4A-District 10 match on Thursday. "It was good that we got this match done in three games," AP head coach Christie Hipps said. "Last year, this match would have went five games, but it was good experience for our girls. We got a big lead and it gave everyone a chance to play." ...more

September 8, 2007