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Hernando Today

Third time no charm Springstead falls to The Villages again

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Published: January 1, 2008

SPRING HILL - Aside from its one victory over first-year Land O' Lakes-Sunlake High, Springstead High has come no closer to a win than in its two meetings with The Villages this season.

On Nov. 21 the Lady Eagles fell 28-26 and on Dec. 17 they lost at The Villages, 39-36.

"The first two times when we had the whole crew here we lost each game at the buzzer with one shot," Springstead Head Coach Todd Toomer said. "Coach (Kevin) Scarbrough, give him credit. His girls just play hard."

Springstead met the Lady Buffaloes once more on Thursday, in the first round of the inaugural four-team, two-day Christmas Chaos '07, hosted by the Lady Eagles.

With a few key players unavailable during the holidays, Springstead fell for the third time to The Villages, this time by a wider margin, 34-25.

"The first two times (Toomer) put his kids in a position to get hot and then they got hot," Coach Scarbrough of The Villages said. "If you don't put a hand in their kids face, they'll put it in there. They're well-coached."

That played out in the fourth quarter, as Christine Brinker drew some excitement out of the crowd, coming off the bench for Springstead (1-14) to knock down three three-pointers, accounting for all of her team-high nine points.

"Last year for the JV she tied the school record of five (three-pointers made) for JV," Toomer said. "She stepped it up tonight, that's for sure.

"These are young kids and they're playing their hearts out every game, it doesn't matter what the score is. Talk about building for the future."

Unfortunately for the Lady Eagles they dug too deep a hole in the opening quarter, getting out-scored by the Lady Buffaloes (11-4) 11-0.

Springstead didn't get on the board until Lynsay Riddle hit a three-pointer at 7:36 in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Megan McCue tallied eight in the first period, en route to a game-high 13 points.

"I think they lost her a couple of times, that's six points right there," Scarbrough said. "They lost the post player a few times, then they lost Megan. Before you knew it, it was 10-0."

That lead held steady the rest of the way. The Villages went into halftime up 19-9 and entered the fourth quarter ahead by 13, 25-12.

Amanda Logan added nine points and nine rebounds, Morgan Cary seven points and 12 rebounds and Lauren Shivers had 10 steals.

Freshman Sasha Spalding scored five points to go along with 12 rebounds and five blocks for the Lady Eagles.

On Friday in the shootout format, The Villages played Crystal River (a 54-34 winner over River Ridge on Thursday) and Springstead faced River Ridge.

"I think it's great," Toomer said. "I watched Crystal River and River Ridge play. These are teams we see every couple of years. It's good to play outside competition so the girls see someone different. It's good to see other teams come in our gym."

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