Noles breeze past Canes

BRADENTON - Manatee's Theliar quits hoops team in third quarter

In December, the Southeast High boys basketball team lost to Manatee on a last-second shot by Edgar Theliar. This week that loss has been a topic of discussion amongst the Seminoles.

It was a district loss that started Southeast's downward spiral.

Wednesday night was redemption for the Seminoles.

"We've been hyped up all week about this game," said Southeast's Mike Bacon, who led his team in scoring with 18 points. "This was like a get back game for us."

And payback it was, as the host Seminoles breezed past the Canes 56-41 in Class 5A-District 12 action Wednesday night.

The Seminoles (10-9, 8-5) full-court press forced Manatee into five turnovers within the first two minutes of the game, which Southeast converted into easy baskets.

Bacon's 3-pointer at the 7:11 mark of the second quarter sparked a 14-2 run that gave Southeast a 14-point cushion.

In the second quarter, with 0.2 seconds on the clock, Southeast's Brian Alexander tossed an inbounded pass toward the goal from half-court, and teammate Trey Murray tipped the ball in. The Seminoles led the Canes 37-18 at the break.

"I think we did a consistent job of playing with energy," Seminoles coach Elliot Washington said. "That's something we've been trying to do. The defense set the tone for us to get some baskets."

The Canes (6-11, 5-6) committed 28 turnovers and shot 12 of 45 from the field. The Canes were in trouble on and off the court.

Theliar, a senior forward, quit the team during the third quarter after Canes coach Brian Reeve pulled the starters when Manatee hadn't trimmed its deficit to within 10 points. Theliar is the third player to quit the team in the past two weeks.

"He didn't agree with my decision, and made a decision for himself," Reeve said. "We have districts coming up, but I wanted to get the younger guys in there to get some experience for next year. We were trying to see if we could create more chemistry and trust." Anthony Bennett led the Canes in scoring with 17 points.

For Southeast, Alexander contributed 16 points, and Jeran Davis had eight.

"We want to be trying to play our best basketball at the end of the season," Washington said. "You want to be peeking at this time of the year with districts and playoffs coming up."

MANATEE (41) - Ace Sanders 2 2-3 8, Anthony Bennett 6 3-4 17, Mike Alderson 0 0-0 0, Dion Shorey 1 2-2 4 , Bjorn Campbell 0 0-0 0, Mark Templeton 0 1-2 1, Matt McDonough 1 0-0 3, Edgard Theliar 1 0-0 3, Zach Beeker 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 8-11 41 .

SOUTHEAST (56) - Brian Alexander 6 3-5 16, Korey Hunt 3 0-0 7, J.D. Davis 4 0-0 8, Mike Bacon 7 4-5 18 , Trevion Murray 3 0-0 6, Deonte Hall 0 0-0 0, Will Maxwell 0 1-2 1, Stephen Suchy 0 0-0 0, John Ethridge 0 0-0 0, Namon Rice 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 8-11 56.

Manatee 10 8 17 6 - 41

Southeast 9 28 16 3 - 56

3-pointers: Manatee 3 (Sanders, Baltazar, McDonough); Southeast 3 (Alexander, Hunt). Total fouls: Manatee 12 ; Southeast 14. Records: Manatee 6-11 ; Southeast 10-9 .