- April 24, 2024
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The Lady Bulldogs basketball team lost to DeLand, 64-56, Saturday, Feb. 5. FPC will travel to Orange Park Thursday, Feb. 10, to play in the regional quarterfinals.
With about two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of the District 2-6A championship Saturday, Feb. 5, Flagler Palm Coast senior guard Ty’Neka Addison drove through the lane and scored a layup, bringing the Lady Bulldogs to within four points of DeLand.
Perhaps the momentum was about to swing.
But after the basket, Addison employed the full-court trap, and as DeLand went to inbound the ball, Addison was called for a technical foul for reaching over the baseline.
It was a questionable call in the mind of FPC coach Javier Bevacqua, but either way, it essentially sealed the victory for DeLand.
DeLand’s lead was 51-47 when Addison was called for the technical foul, but after DeLand’s Shai Sanders sank both free throws and DeLand scored in its offensive posssession, the lead stretched to eight points. DeLand went on to win 64-56.
“I agreed that it was a foul, but you don’t make that kind of call there,” Bevacqua said after the game. “I was asking the ref to let the kids decide the game.”
Addison powered the Lady Bulldogs with 33 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Senior sharpshooter Desirea Hurley, who was battling a fever and strep throat Saturday night, added nine points on three 3-pointers, adding to her school-record total and reaching an even 100 3-pointers (the previous single-season record was 52).
Diajah Davis added eight points and nine rebounds.
Bevacqua said FPC’s 18 turnovers were an Achilles’ heel in the championship game.
Throughout most of the game, FPC faced a diamond-and-one full-court press, which led to the turnovers, Bevacqua said.
An injury to FPC’s Chelsey Clemons has decreased ball-handling options for Bevacqua.
Now, the Lady Bulldogs will travel north to take on Orange Park Thursday, Feb. 10, in the Class 6A regional quarterfinals. Addison and her teammates are familiar with the Lady Raiders. Orange Park knocked FPC out of the state playoffs last season; however, FPC defeated Orange Park, 63-57, on Dec. 16.
Addison, who averaged nearly 30 points in the three district tournament games, said she and her teammates have put the district championship loss behind them.
“We have to be ready to play Orange Park on Thursday,” Addison said Monday.
Reflecting back on the game earlier in the season, Addison added: “What helped us win the first game was everyone did what they were supposed to do. Everyone played their role and did what they needed to do in the game plan coach came up with. We fought through four quarters.”
