By ERIKA CORD
News-Sun correspondent
and DAN HOEHNE
daniel.hoehne@newssun.com
LAKE PLACID - Two teams were looking to turn things around Monday night, and in cross-county fashion no less.
Sebring, still looking for its' first regular-season win, headed to Lake Placid with the Dragons themselves having lost two straight.
Working for that elusive "W" between the long-standing rivals certainly added to the intensity and aggression this night, with Lake Placid pulling out the 71-66 win.
With no more than a nine-point lead for either team throughout the night, tensions were high and the crowd was kept on its toes from start to finish.
"We could have played a lot better, we need to work on our offense, and play a better defense" Sebring assistant coach LaVaar Scott said afterward. "They had a lot of effort at times, and there was a lot of offensive rebounding, but we really need to stop beating our selves."
One of Lake Placid's big plays of the night was when a free throw was attempted by Nick Tuason, but missed.
Off the rebound jumped Dragon Sean Hely, who secured another two points with a clean swish.
Another key exchange came from Nick Tuason, hitting key, back-to-back three-pointers, upping the ante on Sebring.
"They had a very hard fought game and they finished the whole game like we've been working on," Dragon head coach John Million said. "We finally played that entire 32 minutes. It was a rough game out there, but the kids played with intensity and I am very proud."
Both teams threw it into overdrive in the last two minutes of the game.
With 1:12 left on the clock, Sebring's Josh Austin got one of two foul shots putting the Streaks closer to victory, but Lake Placid wasn't about to let that happen.
With 40 seconds to go, Jonah Brown performed a clean lay-up, putting the crowd on edge with the score at 66-64 for the Dragons.
But they didn't stop there.
Munnings hit one-of-two free throws, followed by another two pointer.
To finish it off, Heath Harris split a pair of fouls shots with six seconds left on the clock to allow Sebring no chance to come back.
"We need to work on some offensive things, and there was a few bad passes tonight, but things we can work on in practice," Million explained. "We have the intensity and desire and drive, and those are things that are hard to get them to do, so we have a lot going for us,"
Lake Placid was lead by Anfernee Munnings with 23 points and Tuason with a close 21.
Leading scorers for Sebring were Luke Ancrum with 19 points, Decaris Jones with 15 points and Josh Austin with eight.
Lake Placid was back in district action Tuesday with another cross-county rival, Avon Park, on the road, while Sebring played a home contest against Hardee.
See Friday's News-Sun for recaps of both contests.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 - www.newssun.com/WED-12-12-12-LPSebBB