PORT ORANGE — The Flagler Palm Coast Bulldogs run as a punishment for missing free throws at practice.

“And with this young man,” interim head coach Johnny Hampton said while gesturing to senior Jameer Clark, “we run double for misses.”

That paid off Saturday.

Against Halifax Academy in the Execute to Impact MLK Showcase at Spruce Creek, Clark hit all six of his free throws, including four in the final 30 seconds to seal Flagler Palm Coast’s 58-53 victory.

“Jameer, in practice, knocks down his free throws because we put that level of pressure on him,” Hampton said. “I felt comfortable with the ball in his hands.”

The Bulldogs made it a priority to get Clark the rock in the fourth quarter. In the first three periods, he contributed only a pair of free throws before exploding for 12 points in the final quarter.

His 14 points trailed only Caumarion Lang, who offered a game-best 17. Jack Wronowski also added 10 points.

“Today, I thought the team was very locked in,” Hampton said. “We’ve had an up-and-down season where we have struggled being prepared to play from the opening tip. But I felt like today we were prepared to play, and I felt like our seniors, especially Jameer, led us down the stretch.”

That’s what it’s supposed to look like for the 7-9 Bulldogs, Hampton thought. They pushed the tempo, flew around on defense and rebounded the ball.

Even while trading leads in the fourth quarter, Flagler Palm Coast never panicked. It responded to each Knights threat.

“We believed in each other,” Clark said. “We believed we could beat this team. We believe we can beat every team.”

It’s simply a matter of consistency, a word their coaches are preaching often these days. The Bulldogs haven’t won more than two games in a row or lost more than two games in a row this season.

Steadiness begats results. Just like Clark’s free-throw practice and in-game success.

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“When we’re consistent, we can beat good teams like that,” Hampton said. “When we’re not consistent, we can lose to lesser teams. And that’s been our issue this year.”

Flagler Palm Coast returns to Spruce Creek’s court for its second game of the MLK Showcase against New Smyrna Beach Monday. With a win, the Bulldogs would be going for three straight Wednesday — against county rival Matanzas.

Halifax expects to hang with any opponent

Five years ago, Shamus Dougherty might have felt good about Saturday.

Not anymore.

His Halifax Knights held a lead over Flagler Palm Coast with less than four minutes left but failed to close it out. Never mind it being one of the area’s smallest schools, a Class 2A program, competing with and falling just short against a 7A club.

“We’re expecting now to be able to play on a big stage,” Dougherty said. “We want to get ready for districts, and that’s what we were talking about after the game with the guys. This is the kind of intensity and pressure you’re going to see come district tournament time and, hopefully, regionals. We have to handle it.”

The Knights haven’t endured a losing season since 2014-15 and are 13-3 so far this winter.

They already knocked off University, a 7A program, and lost a four-point game to 3A Father Lopez (10-5) in the New Smyrna Beach Pre-Christmas Shootout last month. Dougherty scheduled those games with postseason prep in mind.

The Bulldogs represented Halifax’s latest test. For all 32 minutes, the contest remained close.

The Knights played through senior big man David Bahoque for long stretches. That’s typical. He led the team with 16 points.

“Usually, once we get him going, he’s able to kick it, and we hit more of our jump shots,” Dougherty said. “Tonight, we got a lot of open threes. We just did not knock them down. In our losses, that’s sort of been the theme.”

Junior Matthew Rodriguez (12 points) and sophomore Michael Ortiz (10) also reached double figures.

“When we’re clicking, we’re a top team,” Bahoque said.

Their biggest opponents — not in school size but in importance — are coming soon.

Haylee Morelli leads Volusia-Flagler area girls in scoring

Surprise, surprise.

After pacing Volusia-Flagler area programs in scoring average as a varsity eighth-grader last year, Trinity Christian’s Haylee Morelli once again sits atop that leaderboard.

The freshman is putting up 22.5 points per night through 11 games. That slots her 14th on MaxPreps’ statewide rankings.

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The Eagles are 5-6.

Morelli has crossed the 30-point mark three times — all wins — including a season-best 37 points against Warner Christian on Dec. 8. In her most recent outing last Monday, she posted 16 points in a victory over Legacy Charter.

Last year, Morelli closed the campaign with 23.8 points per game and earned a spot on the All-Area first-team.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: High school basketball: FPC ekes past Halifax; TCA's Morelli hot again