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Hernando Today

County Rivals To Meet In Final

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: December 31, 2008

LARGO - Auld acquaintances would not be forgotten in the New Year's Eve championship game of the Indian Rocks Christian School Holiday Tournament.

Springstead High assured it would meet county-rival Nature Coast Technical with a 47-27 victory over tournament host Indian Rocks Christian on Tuesday night.

"It'll be a battle," Springstead Head Coach Pat Kelly said of Wednesday's final. "It's a rivalry. They get up for us. That's just the way it is. I think it's a good thing for our area, too."

Slow start

After a poor-shooting first half, the Eagles (10-0) held just a 19-15 lead going into the intermission.

In the second half Springstead put together the kind of dominant effort expected, outscoring Indian Rocks Christian (5-3) 28-12.

A fast break lay-in by Dante Valentine made it 26-19 at the 4:01 mark of the third quarter, and it was all Eagles from there.

Before Springstead emptied its bench late in the game, it had held the Golden Eagles to just six points in the half, including a lone free throw in the fourth quarter.

Addison O'Neil scored all eight of his points over the final two periods, bulling his way around the basket.

"Springstead is really athletic," Indian Rocks Christian Head Coach Joe Frost said. "We knew that coming in. What we tried do in that situation was try to continue pressing.

"Number two (O'Neil) hit some really big shots. Almost enough to the point we had to come out of it (the defense). They're a very talented team. The only thing we could try to do is to control the tempo."

Isaac McMillen led the Golden Eagles in scoring with just nine points. John Hogan pulled down 12 rebounds and blocked four shots.

Isaiah Mason led a balanced effort for the Eagles with 13 points. Valentine and Nick Steadman added 10 points and four steals apiece. Domnique Roberson had 10 rebounds and five steals.

"I thought we moved the ball better against their defense (in the second half)," Kelly said. "We had a simple plan and stuck with it. Steadman, they gave him open shots and he hit them.

"We moved the ball better, rebounded better and our defense. They couldn't seem to find a way of getting what they wanted against us. That's to our kids' credit. They busted their butts on defense.

"We adjusted to what we needed to against that team. If plan A doesn't work, this team is able to go to plan B and execute it fairly well."

Springstead already has one win this season versus Nature Coast, 63-45 at home on Dec. 9. They will play at Nature Coast on Jan. 16. Wednesday's game won't count toward the Class 4A, District 8 standings.

SPRINGSTEAD 47, INDIAN ROCKS CHRISTIAN 27
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Springstead 10 9 13 15 — 47
IRC 8 7 5 7 — 27
Springstead (47): Roberson 0 0-2 0, O'Neil 2 4-6 8, Mason 6 1-2 13, Valentine 4 2-4 10, Steadman 5 0-0 10, Latimer 1 0-0 2, Sabaski 1 0-0 2, Inniss 0 2-2 2, Noury 0, Wild 0, Taylor 0. Totals 19 9-16 47.
Indian Rocks Christian (27): McMillen 4 0-0 9, McGarry 1 0-0 2, Hogan 1 3-4 5, Kaufman 3 1-2 7, Farver 0, Culkin 1 0-0 2, Gattuso 1 0-0 2, Philips 0. Totals 11 4-6 27.
Three-point field goals: SPG 0; IRC 1 (McMillen).
Total fouls: SPG 7; IRC 10.
Technical fouls: none.
Fouled out: none.
Records: Springstead (10-0), Indian Rocks Christian (5-3).

IRCS Holiday Tournament
at Indian Rocks Christian School

12-29
River Ridge 49, Naples-St. John Neumann 31
Nature Coast 58, Hollywood Christian 47
Springstead 62, Mitchell 55
Indian Rocks Christian 61, Tarpon Springs 55

12-30
St. John Neumann 45, Hollywood Christian 42
Mitchell 47, Tarpon Springs 45
Nature Coast 49, River Ridge 47 (OT)
Springstead 47, Indian Rocks Christian 27

Sports writer Chris Bernhardt Jr. can be reached at 352-544-5288 or cbernhardt@hernandotoday.com.

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