Sunday, Dec. 31, 2006

Miami Senior (Fla.) 68, Latta 54

Stat of the game | 50 - The combined number of 3-point attempts by the two teams.

Turning point | With 4:12 left in the first half, Bobby McFadden's 3-pointer brought Latta to within one point at 21-20. But Jorge Rubio drained a 3-pointer and Edwin Rios hit two from beyond the arc and it never get that close again.

Game summary | Miami Senior, playing with more defensive intensity, held Latta to 38 percent from the floor in the game. The Stingarees put the game in the hands of their terrific point guard and Rios didn't disappoint, scoring a game high 32 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.

Quoting Latta coach Tony Whittington | "Hopefully, playing in this tournament will help us become more physically tough and mentally tough. They let you play here and I think that is going to help us. I told them today that I liked our hustle and intensity better today and we just need to take that into the rest of our season."

Quoting Miami Senior coach Marcus Carreno | "We had a day off yesterday and that helped. More than anything, we talked about having pride in our defense and working on making sure their man is not scoring and making sure if you get beat, you get help because we're a team."

MIAMI SENIOR (68) - Seymour 1-4 0-0 2, Rios 11-25 5-8 32, Mendoza 1-1 0-0 2, Hernandez 3-8 0-0 7, Hernandez 3-8 0-0 7, Rubio 5-15 2-2 17, Hyppolite 0-0 2-2 2, Guerrero 0-0 0-0 0, Dariuys 1-2 2-4 4, Ramos 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-56 11-16 68.

LATTA (54) - McDonald 6-10 1-1 15, K. Page 2-5 1-2 5, McFadden 3-7 0-0 7, Morrell 0-2 2-3 2, L. Page 7-24 6-9 21, Dixon 0-0 1-2 1, Westbrook 0-0 0-0 0, Givens 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 19-50 12-19 54.

Halftime-Miami Senior 34-28. 3-point goals-Miami Senior 11-31 (Seymour 0-3, Rios 5-12, Hernandez 1-4, Rubio 5-12), Latta 4-19 (McDonald 2-3, K. Page 0-2, McFadden 1-4, L. Page 1-10). Fouled out-Seymour (Miami Senior). Rebounds-Miami Senior 38 (Rios 10), Latta 30 (McDonald 8). Assists-Miami Senior 12 (Rios 7), Latta 5 (L. Page 3). Total fouls-Miami Senior 16, Latta 16. Technical-none.

Records: Miami Senior 10-6, Latta 3-11.