By ERIKA CORD
News-Sun correspondent
SEBRING - With district tournament time just on the horizon, a late-season, cross-county contest was just the ticket to get the tensions heightened and ready for postseason play.
Thursday's 57-49 win for Sebring over the visiting Green Dragons fit the bill quite well as the two teams battled evenly for the majority of the game.
But it was a 17-8 second-quarter margin that spelled the difference in putting the Blue Streaks on top.
Lake Placid had looked to play spoiler on Sebring's Senior Night, with the team honoring upper classmen Decaris Jones, Josh Austin and Ezell Gammage, and raced out to a 14-11 edge after the first eight minutes.
But the Streaks upped their defensive efforts in the second, which then provided more scoring opportunities to turn the three-point deficit into a six-point lead at the half.
"We played hard and stayed after it," Dragon head coach John Million said. "But a few lay-ups cost us before halftime."
But stay after it they did as Lake Placid played the Blue Streaks to a 15-15 draw in the third, keeping the margin intact and giving themselves a chance.
And behind the scoring efforts of Anfernee Munnings, Heath Harris and Nick Tuason, the Dragons crept closer into the waning minutes.
But Sebring answered back, kept the lead intact and added an extra two-points for the eight-point win.
Munnings lead all scorers with 19 on the night, with Tuason and Harris each adding 11 for Lake Placid.
Jones paced Sebring with 17 while Gary DeMarest added nine, Austin eight and Conner Cook seven.
"We need to work on our inside game more, we had a lot of turnovers," Sebring head coach Princeton Harris said. "But they stepped up and made the plays when they had to."
"They made some clutch shots down the stretch," Million said. "This was a good game for us and it really helped. We just need to stay focused for Monday."
Which is when the Dragons will kick off the District 10-4A Tournament at Avon Park, while the Streaks will be hosting their District 9-6A Tournament and will be in action on Tuesday.
Sunday, February 03, 2013 - www.newssun.com/SUN-2-3-13-SebLPBB