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News-Sun photo by DAN HOEHNE Tuesday afternoon's cross-county matchup was a physical one, as Daija Barrett found out in this collision with Hannah Shoop.

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published: Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Lady Devil defense steals away win at Sebring

By ED BALDRIDGE

ed.baldridge@newssun.com

DAN HOEHNE

daniel.hoehne@newssun.com

SEBRING -- "It's about time."

That was the statement Avon Park girls basketball head coach Paulette Daley made after the Lady Red Devils trounced the Sebring Blue Streaks 52-22 at home in the first season match-up of the county rivals.

"I think it was 2001 last time we beat Sebring, and it's about time. It felt really good. We have the team, and our girls are prepared this year," said an excited Daley. "We have some great leadership out of our seniors. Beonca (Godfrey) did an outstanding job for us today."

Godfrey would lead the team in field goals, netting 16 points for the game, but her aggressive defensive play was what really stood out and set the tone of the game.

"We pressed them hard," said Daley. "The turnovers really made the difference, we were focused on getting steals. With this team, we cannot just sit in a 2-3 zone defense, we've got to apply pressure."

"This win means a lot," said Godfrey. "We have come back with confidence, and we have focused on getting the plays down. I had to settle down and focus. Coach told me to settle down and get my head on straight, I was so excited, especially coming out for the second half."

The Lady Devils' left the court at the half out in front 35-8 after 16 minutes of aggressive play which forced 12 turnovers.

Taking advantage of a young, inexperienced backcourt, Avon Park's quick guards amped up the pressure, stepped into the passing lanes and generally wreaked havoc for turnovers and easy scores.

After the half the excitement in the Sebring gym climbed, as the Lady Streak defense gelled and began double-teaming Godfrey inside, forcing Avon Park to go to the outside.

Meanwhile, the Sebring offense was finally able to get it inside more to take advantage of their size advantage.

The Streaks fought back, picking up eight points to dig into the sizable lead, but the Devils soon settled back down and went to work.

"We didn't come out strong to begin with during the second half. They lost their heads a bit, and I had to tell them to settle down. They listened, and it gave us the time to pressure their guards," said Daley.

The Devils returned the favor and took over the territory under the net, holding the usually double digit insider Hannah Shoop to just eight points.

Shoop would pick-up 25 Streak rebounds, mostly due to the caroms coming off the outside shooting, but even the effective Jerica Moore felt the pressure and could only hit six points from outside the paint.

Avon Park pushed the pace up a notch during the fourth period, and the score did as well, running out front the rest of the game until it's anti-climatic end.

The win has the Lady Devils on an early season roll after having swept their two tournament games at the Lake Region Pre-Season Tip-Off over Lakeland Christian and Hardee.

The Lady Devils hold court again on Thursday at home when they face Palmetto at 6 p.m.

Sebring, meanwhile, came off a split in their Tip-Off Tournament, falling to Okeechobee and topping Bartow as they work toward getting a better balance between their outside and inside game.

The Streaks also stay at home when the tip-off against Booker Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.