Saturday, December 22, 2007
McDonald had several chances to take the lead or tie in the final minute.
By RYAN JONES
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
McDONALD — Sebring coach Brian Clark may find his wallet a bit thinner this week, but that’s quite alright with him.
Before Friday’s Inter-Tri-County League Tier Two game against McDonald, Clark promised to feed his team on the ride home if they posted a victory.
The Trojans upheld their end of the bargain by hanging on for a 50-47 win over the Blue Devils in Robert H. McClary gymnasium.
One could say Clark’s dinner offer to his team was worth every penny — and then some.
“We can joke about it all we want, but there’s never been a Sebring team walk off this floor with a win,” Clark said. “This victory should give us a ton of confidence moving forward.”
Sebring improved to 6-2 overall with a 5-1 league mark.
If you looked at a preseason list of teams that would challenge for the league title, Sebring wasn’t among them.
“Nobody really gave us a chance to win as many games as we have this season,” Clark said. “Now it’s still a long season and we have many games to play, but I don’t think many people expected us to be where we are now.”
Trailing 30-22 at the half McDonald ramped up their pressure defense and forced Sebring into 13 second-half turnovers. Even though the Blue Devils trailed 44-33 after three quarters, they refused to give in.
Clark said the defensive pressure is something you expect from McDonald teams.
“When you face McDonald it’s a game where Jeff’s [McDonald’s head coach Rasile] kids force you into mistakes against their pressure,” Clark said. “We made mistakes but our kids picked themselves up and said to each other ‘who’s going to make the next play we need.’”
The Blue Devils’ 12-3 fourth quarter run, capped off by a basket inside by Adam Streb tied the game at 47 with 1:20 remaining. On Sebring’s next possession, Zach Tieche converted a twisting lay-up to give the Trojans a 49-47 lead.
McDonald had several chances to take the lead or tie the contest, but missed three three-point attempts in the final minute of play.
Clark said the maturity of his team helped them pull out the victory in the waning moments.
“You’ve got to get them when you can,” Clark said about winning close ball games. “Toward the end we knew we had to gut out a win.
“It would have been a shame for us to travel here and play pretty well only to fall short,” Clark said. “These kids are mature beyond their ages. They’ve experienced more adversity in their young lives than most kids have. Their cohesiveness is really apparent when things go wrong because they know if they keep trying it pays off in the end.”
With Sebring ahead 13-4 after quarter one, McDonald answered with an 18 point second period to cut the lead to 30-22 at intermission. The Blue Devils pounded the ball inside to 6-foot-5 forward Adam Streb, who scored 11 of his game-high 18 points in the frame.
Tieche led the Trojans with 15 points, Devin Weekly collected eight rebounds, and Justin Wade tallied four steals. A. Jurica chipped in eight points, five rebounds and four assists for the winners.
McDonald coach Jeff Rasile declined an interview request following the game.