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Without Waddy NCT Pulls Away From Pasco, 55-38

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Published: January 22, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Its regular season schedule coming to a close, Nature Coast Technical honored its seniors Thursday night on the home floor.

Yet one very important senior only got to take a bow on Senior Night against Pasco High.

Guard Cherikhan Waddy, the team's leading scorer and the county's reining Player of the Year, remained sidelined with a leg injury that has clouded her status for the postseason.

Nevertheless, her teammates picked up the slack, using a 19-2 third-quarter run to pull away for a win over the Lady Pirates, 55-38.

"We haven't played well the past three games. I think that's a direct correlation to not having 'Rikhan (Waddy) out there," Nature Coast Head Coach Travis Lamle said. "She takes a lot off of everyone. You can post her, put her out on the wing; you can do anything you want with her in there.

"Not having her out there is putting kids in positions they're not used to."

Perfect in district

The Lady Sharks (19-5) thus finished 16-0 in Class 4A, District 8 play. The defending district champions, the seventh-ranked 4A team in the state, have only lost three district games over the past four seasons, all to Gulf High in 2005-06.

Pasco (6-18 overall, 4-11 4A-8) has met Nature Coast in the district final three out of the past four years, yet hasn't solved the Lady Sharks since sweeping three meetings in 2003-04.

Now the Lady Pirates find themselves in a rare down year as they attempt to rebuild. They lost to Nature Coast, 63-29, in Dade City on Dec. 7, but put up a much better fight this time around.

At halftime the Lady Sharks led by three, 19-16, primarily thanks to junior forward Shareka Maner, who tallied seven points, seven rebounds, six blocked shots and two steals in the opening two periods.

"Shareka saved us, in the first half especially," Lamle said. "Defensively she adds so much to our team. She played with a lot of intensity tonight. It was one of her better games all-around all year long."

The Lady Pirates closed the gap to one, 19-18, on Lucy Schneider's basket early in the third quarter. That's when Nature Coast finally caught fire.

Senior Lauren Wajerski knocked down her second three-pointer of the night at the 3:57 mark, making it 30-20.

A minute and a half later, she found Maner on an inbounds pass under the basket for a short jumper, providing the Lady Sharks with a 38-20 edge.

"We started going full-court man (defense), which is something we haven't done all year," Lamle said. "We got some easy turnovers, which was nice.

"We tried zone pressing early and they threw it over the top to get easy baskets from 50 (Jessica Haley). This was probably the best full court we've played all year."

Haley, a 6-foot-4 junior, did hurt Nature Coast in the paint scoring 18 points and collecting 12 rebounds. No one else on Pasco reached double figures in scoring, though Schneider notched seven steals and five assists.

"We're young. We have one senior," Pasco High Head Coach John Edwards said. "This is a good team to play before the district tournament. We've come a long way. We're getting better. That's all you can ask.

"They just kept getting second-chance shots. They finally scored after 3-4 rebounds. On our end it was one shot. And they got a lot in transition, too."

Anthony steps up

One person who seemed to fill the void left by Waddy was her fellow starting guard, Crystal Anthony. The junior point guard had an unusually high scoring night with 18 points, to go along with seven steals, five assists and five rebounds.

"It's definitely more difficult without 'Rikhan," Anthony said. "For the past couple of years, I haven't been good with pressure. With 'Rikhan I can give it to her and she gets the job done. It'll help in the postseason when most likely we'll have her.

"We've been getting prepared a lot the last couple weeks. We don't want Bishop Moore in the first round (of regionals). We want to win the district. We want one more home game here; if we win the district we'll get that. That's what we're working for."
Maner ended up with a double-double, 13 points and 12 rebounds. She added those six first-half blocks and seven steals.

Wajerski chipped in 11 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Sophomore Jen Marshall, starting in place of Waddy, added six points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Alyssa Joens had seven points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Still unsure of the severity of Waddy's injury, Lamle has taken a cautious approach with his star player. After sustaining the injury against Springstead High the previous Friday, Waddy missed the final three games.

The 4A-8 Tournament won't begin until next week at Wiregrass Ranch High, giving her more time to heal up.

"We don't have anything next week. We'll have the next four days off," Lamle said. "She's still walking with a limp. I doubt I'll play her in our first (tournament) game. If I do it will be sparingly. I've just got to make sure she's in game shape."

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