Sebring stuck by Devils

By LAUREN WELBORN

News-Sun correspondent

SEBRING - "You have to overcome adversity. When it comes, know what you are going to do."

These famous words of Sebring boys varsity basketball coach Princeton Harris definitely came into play Tuesday night as they took on visiting Kathleen.

Despite intense play and a true fight to the finish, the Red Devils came out on top 56-54 in a key district matchup.

The first quarter showed a steady, even pace for both sides of the court seeing Kathleen holding a narrow 11-9 lead.

As the game started heating up, Kathleen added more free throws to the board and continued to pad their lead.

Matt Taylor was able to settle the score at 20 apiece as the last seconds ticked away before the half, however one of the total 39 free throw attempts taken by Kathleen was successful in regaining the lead 21-20.

As play resumed in the second half, Taylor would again take charge for the Streaks, giving them their first lead of the night at 24-23 and adding to his 13-point performance.

Decaris Jones, who put up a total of 20 on the board for Sebring, followed shortly after with five consecutive points as Kathleen began to lag behind.

Taylor showed his skill yet again as he scored to bring Sebring's total to 31 and impressively blocking a Red Devil shot on the break.

Kathleen took back the lead, however, and entered the final quarter with a 10-point advantage over the Blue Streaks.

The first two points of the quarter by Jared Cannon started the rally for Sebring as they closed the gap in scoring.

Taylor, Jones and Nelson St. Louis followed shortly after with a combined 17 points to bring the score to 53-50.

The home crowd was soon on their feet, chanting, "Defense, defense!" and encouraging the boys to give these last few minutes their all.

And that they did. Cannon just missed a three-point shot that was recovered by Josh Austin to see Sebring trailing 53-52.

Austin would later take the shot that tied the score at 54, but Kathleen would use the last of their free throws to finalize the 56-54 win.

With last week's win over Lake Gibson their lone district victory of the season, the Streaks get one more chance to stay out of the bottom seed of the upcoming District 9-6A tournament - a re-match with the Braves at Lake Gibson Friday.

"We want to move up so we won't have to face Winter Haven until the final," Harris said. "W made a nice comeback after being down 12 in the fourth. We're getting better."