Polk Teams Strike Out Of District Hoops Tourney
Wed. February 08, 2012 at 3:00 a.m. | By Polk Preps Staff
By LISA COFFEY
THE LEDGER
Boys hoops: 4a-10
MULBERRY | A Polk County team will not win or advance to the next round from the Class 4A, District 10 boys basketball tournament.
Both Frostproof and host Mulberry were eliminated with losses Tuesday at Mulberry High School.
Top-seeded Avon Park defeated the fourth-seeded Bulldogs 71-55 while second-seeded Desoto ended Mulberry's season 52-36.
Avon Park and Desoto meet to determine the district winner at 7 p.m. Friday at Mulberry High School.
The two have met twice this year, splitting the results.
The Bulldogs tried to close down Red Devils Marcus Dewberry and Reggie Baker at the start.
"That frustrated them," Frostproof coach John Johnson said. "Those guys are just too much of a handful. That early offensive rebounding really killed us."
The Red Devils worked the boards and managed a slew of second shots in the first half, but the Bulldogs trailed just 30-23 at the half.
Frostproof stepped it up at the end of the third quarter. The Bulldogs closed the deficit to 39-35 with a minute to go by out-scoring the Red Devils 14-11 and pulling down 11 rebounds to the Red Devils' six.
The Red Devils managed to stretch the lead from beyond the three-point arc and on the free throw line in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
"We just didn't have enough," Johnson said. "We had the right game plan. But with the last 10 minutes, we kind of had our doubts."
Ricky Cobb led Frostproof with 25 points and 10 boards. Zach Barker chipped in 14.
A young Mulberry team, with four freshmen and two freshmen starters, couldn't stop the tall, triple scoring and rebounding threat of Jimmy Williams, Adrian Harris and Reginald Jones. The trio finished with a combined 38 points and 29 rebounds.
"We didn't rebound and we turned the ball over," Mulberry coach Lester Hunt said. "It's been that way all year. We didn't do the little stuff. The main thing is that we played defense. We're a young team."
Oliver Green paced Mulberry with 17 points.
FROSTPROOF (55): Zack Barker 5 2-5 14, Ricky Cobb 10 2-4 25, Cecil Cherry 4, Daniel Knighten 8, Reggie Allen 4. TOTALS: 23 4-11 55.
AVON PARK (72): Reggie Baker 15, Marcus Dewberry 14, Romeollo Roberts 18, Michael Rhoden 10, Travis Lawton 5, Steven Roberts 2, Jovan Pratt 2, Gustavus Owens 5. TOTALS: 22 13-20 71.
Frostproof 13 10 14 18 — 55
Avon Park 13 17 11 30 — 71
Halftime: Avon Park 30-23. 3-pointers: Frostproof 3 (Barker 2, Cobb 1). Avon Park (Owens 1). Records: Avon Park 19-7. Frostproof (7-14).
DESOTO (52): Laquavious Hightower 2, Kavauris Polk 7, Jimmy Williams 20, Jonathan Richardson 3, Reginald Jones 7, Rashad Dennis 2, Adrian Harris 11. TOTALS: 22 5-20 52.
MULBERRY (36): Tyrik Johnson 3, Jarius Garner 4, Oliver Green 17, Cordario Brown 4, Grant Urquhart 2, Henry Berry 5. TOTALS: 8 7-22 36.
Desoto 11 12 15 14 — 52
Mulberry 8 10 5 13 — 36
Halftime: Desoto 23-18. 3-pointers: Desoto 1 (Polk). Mulberry 2 (Johnson 1, Berry 1). Records: Desoto 16-7, Mulberry 8-13.
