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Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel for the Indian River High School boys' basketball team.

The Indians fell to Dover 55-51 in a Governor's Trophy semifinal at the Slam Dunk to the Beach Holiday Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 26, 1998.

And although they saw their overall record drop to 0-6, the effort was perhaps their best of the season and made coaches Pat Kelly and Jerry Peden optimistic about the remainder of the season.

"I thought our kids came a long way in a week ... and now they're playing like a basketball team," Kelly said. "We came a tremendous distance today in terms of working an offense and working on the fundamental skills of the offense."

IR will play in the Governor's Trophy consolation game Tuesday, Dec. 29, at 9:45 a.m. against the loser of Monday's Lake Forest/William Penn semifinal.

Despite falling behind by 10 points in the first quarter and trailing almost the entire game, IR refused to go away. The Indians actually took a one-point lead midway through the fourth quarter before tiring down the stretch.

Anthony Jones turned in another strong performance for the Indians, scoring 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Mike Lord added 14 points and eight boards.

"We're getting better every game, we're getting better every practice, we've had a number of good practices and the guys are really starting to come around," Peden said.

The contest was one of the day's ugliest, with the teams combining for 40 turnovers. Dover shot just 35 percent from the floor and IR 37 percent.

Dover (2-3) had numerous opportuites to put the game away but let IR creep back into contention each time. Leading 46-39 at the end of the third quarter, the Senators quickly got a 19-footer from Donnie Berry to extend their lead to nine.

But the Indians turned up the defensive pressure and held Dover scoreless for the next five minutes. A 10-0 run gave them a 49-48 lead with 4:10 to play. Lord had a pair of layups during the spurt while Jones sank a free throw and a short jumper.

"The kids picked it up and came back," Peden said. "You've got to be proud of the kids ... they had a heck of a run."

But Dover would finally put the Indians away down the stretch, outscoring them 7-2 over the final four minutes.

A free throw by Derrick Abrams and a layup by Rob Johnson gave the Senators a 51-49 lead before IR's George Cole sank a pair of clutch free throws to tie the game 51-51 with 53.4 seconds to play. John Taylor then gave Dover the lead for good with a layup.

IR got the ball back on an alternating possession with 11.1 seconds left but Jones came up empty on a drive to the basket. Abrams then added a layup at the buzzer to seal the victory for Dover.

The Indians were outrebounded 55-38 and went just 7 of 20 from the free throw line.

Taylor led Dover with 16 points while Abrams had 13 points and 15 rebounds. Mike Bowden added 12 points.

Dover raced to an early 17-7 lead and appeared poised to turn the game into a blowout early. Bowden had a 3-pointer and a 15-footer and Taylor a pair of layups in the first five minutes. But Jones scored 11 of IR's 13 first quarter points and helped the Indians creep back into contention.

IR cut the deficit to 19-18 early in the second quarter and trailed just 29-26 at halftime after a layup by Jones and an 18-footer by Larry Floyd in the final minute. Jones had 14 points at the break.

The Indians got within 37-36 midway through the third quarter but Dover appeared to pull away with a 9-1 run that extended its lead to 46-37 with just 30 seconds left in the quarter. Bowden sparked the run with a 3-pointer and a layup.

But Lord would put in a layup with 14 seconds remaining and IR would make a final run down the stretch.