Florida Air Academy (21-3) sprinted into the boys basketball Class 3A Region 2 semifinals with a 90-56 victory over lake Placid in the regional quarterfinal on Thursday night at Melbourne Central Catholic.

The taller, faster Falcons scored numerous points on lay-ups off of fast breaks and backdoor passes, forcing the Green Dragons to rely mainly on long-distance jump shots.

Florida Air's starting five features six-foot-six Richard Kuksiks and two six-five players, Gilberto Clavell and Ulises Maldonado. Lake Placid's tallest starter, Conlin Veley, stands six-three.

A running clock in the fourth quarter was the only thing that could put a lid on the Falcons' scoring. Florida Air totaled just five points in the final frame after leading 85-49 at the end of three quarters, and 56-39 at the half.

Five Florida Air players scored in double figures, led by Clavell with 18 points and Maldonado with 17. Point guard Jerome Burgos racked up 14 assists and Ben Eblen chipped in with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

"We were pushing the ball so much, I think (Lake Placid) got tired," Kuksics, who scored 14 points, said. "And we played very hard on defense."

Lake Placid's first-year head coach, Levi Williams, was impressed by what he saw.

"Florida Air definitely has a very good team, with very polished, very poised basketball players," Williams said. "With that much talent and ability, you have to play a perfect game basically to beat them. We hadn't seen a team that can run the floor like them all year."

Leading scorer Clavell said the Falcons didn't underestimate their opponent, whom they defeated 90-29 in a regional quarterfinal game last season.

"We were very focused," Clavell said. "We said in the locker room that we needed to play like it was our last game. You never know what can happen, so we played hard from the beginning."

Florida Air coach Aubin Goporo was pleased with his team's performance.

"We played together as a team, communicating, playing defense, running the offense, and finding the open man for a jump shot or a backdoor lay up," Goporo said. "Our offense ran smoothly tonight."

The Falcons scored the first eight points and opened a double-digit lead at 14-3 barely three minutes into the game. The first quarter ended 30-14.

Lake Placid managed to play the Falcons nearly even in the second quarter, as Florida Air increased its lead by just a point.

But a 13-0 run to start the second half quashed any hopes the Green Dragons may have had of a comeback.

Bradley Williams and Josh Hickey led Lake Placid with 13 points each.