Highlanders Lay Claim To Rare Championship

Sat. February 04, 2012 at 5:00 a.m. | By Polk Preps Staff

BY LISA COFFEY

THE LEDGER

Girls Basketball: Class 5a, District 10

LAKELAND | The Lake Wales Highlanders won their first district championship in six years Friday at Tenoroc High School.

The Highlanders (18-10) defeated host Tenoroc (5-14) 61-21 to claim the Class 5A, District 10 title under coach Demetrius Sanders.

The top-seeded Highlanders wait to see which team wins today's game between Titusville and Lake Nona to find out who they host Thursday in the regional quarterfinal.

Meanwhile, Tenoroc will travel to face the loser of the same game.

In past years Lake Wales has had to contend with some of the premier programs in Polk County in their district.

This season, the Highlanders were moved to a district that didn't contain Winter Haven or Haines City.

It paid off in a district title.

Friday, the Highlanders got good post play from 6-foot-1 freshman Zada Williams and strong rebounding to win the contest.

Williams posted 16 points and pulled down 20 rebounds while sitting out most of the second half. She also blocked two shots.

"We finally got some low post presence," Sanders said of Williams. "She's young, but she causes enough problems in there."

Sanders was also pleased with the contribution of senior Carnesha Thompson. Thompson had broke her foot and was out for a month, but returned strong of late.

Thompson tallied 15 points and pulled down seven boards.

"That's going to be a big plus," said Sanders, looking ahead to Thursday's game. "She looked like her old self for the first time."

Junior Cocoa Wertz led all scorers with 22 points. Shayla Sewell grabbed eight boards.

Sanders pointed out the team needs to improve on its turnovers. Lake Wales tallied more than 20 in the contest.

"That will kill us the further we go down the line," he said. "That and help-side defense. We also played sporadic defense."

Sanders hopes the team's challenging schedule will prepare the team.

The Highlanders have lost to strong teams such as Haines City, Winter Haven, PK Yonge, Lake Gibson, Timber Creek and Wekiva.

Emerald Bell paced Tenoroc with seven points.

Lake Wales 16 9 9 27 - 61

Tenoroc 4 3 7 7 - 21

Halftime: Lake Wales 25-7. Three point field goals: Wertz 1. Records: Tenoroc 5-14. Lake Wales 18-10.