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By MARTY MILLER

Hernando Today correspondent

Published: January 28, 2008

LAND O'LAKES – In basketball, it's not uncommon for a coach to schedule a game against a team that is thought to be better than his team is. The reason behind it is that by playing someone who is thought to be a better team, it makes your team have to play their very best in order to win.
On Wednesday night, first-year Springstead basketball coach Pat Kelly did that as he had his Class 4A-8 Eagles take on a solid Class 5A-7 Land O'Lakes squad.
And despite giving the Gators a test, LO'L had just a bit more talent in beating Springstead, 64-50.

Difference: arrives early

The difference in the two teams may have shown up best in the opening quarter as LO'L jumped to a 22-11 lead over the 18-3 Eagles.
Land O'Lakes guard Jerome Henderson hit on three three-point baskets and scored 14 points in the quarter while inside players Quenton Bastian and Mike Espinosa combined to block six Springstead shots in that opening quarter.
"They are a very good team," Kelly said. "But we came back and gave them a ball game. We were down by only six with four minutes left in the game before they pulled away."
The Gators, who are now 16-5 on the year and will probably be the No. 1 seed in the 5A-7 district tournament in two weeks, were led by Harrison who scored 24 points.
Kevin Burnell added 10 points for the Gators while Espinosa finished with 15 rebounds and five blocked shots while Bastian added two points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Springstead was led by Dante Valentine with 20 points along with 12 points from Dominic Roberson and nine from Nehemiah Mason.
After jumping out to an 11-point lead after one period, the Gators cruised to 34-27 cushion at halftime. Then the Eagles closed the lead to 36-30 early in the third quarter on a three-point basket by Valentine.
But the Gators showed why they are such a complete team as they reeled off on an 11-0 run to up the lead to 45-30 late in the period.
However, midway through the final quarter, Springstead staged a rally to cut the margin to six points again.
A rebounded basket by Nick Steadman and two steals by Valentine made it 53-47 with 2:56 left.
Then Burnell hit a three-pointer and Harrison hit a jumper that put the game finally out of reach.
"We pressed them and they had to turn it so they were in the 20s at least," said Kelly. "We threw up too many bad shots but we did play hard. We came into their gym and gave them a tough game."
Springstead has five more games remaining on its schedule before starting the district tournament Feb. 4-9. And Kelly believes that his club should not believe that everything will be easy.
"We're in a tough district, contrary to what some people think," he said. "Nature Coast has been very consistent through the year, Pasco has a lot of talent, they're strong and athletic and Zephyrhills is playing well now.
"This was a good game for us because we're trying to play every game like it's an elimination game for us."

Land O'Lakes 64, Springstead 50
SPG 11 16 6 17 -- 50
LOL 22 12 11 19 -- 64
SPRINGSTEAD(50) – N. Mason 2 4-4 9, Valentine 9 1-2 20, Roberson 4 4-6 12, Steadman 1 0-0 2, Isiah Mason 1 1-4 3, Noury 2 0-0 4. Totals - 19 10-16 50.
LOL (64) – Burnell 4 3-4 12, Potts 1 0-0 2, Davis 3 0-0 8, Harrison 10 1-4 24, Gordon 1 0-0 3, Payne 2 0-0 4, Bastian 1 0-0 2, Espinosa 4 1-2 9. Totals - 26 5-11 64.
3-point field goals - Valentine, Mason (SPG); Harrison 3, Davis 2, Burnell, Gordon (LOL).
Team fouls - SPG 9; LOL 15.
Fouled out - Burnell (LOL).
Technical fouls - none.
Records - Springstead (18-3), Land O'Lakes (16-5).

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