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Hernando Today

Lahey: Back On The Bench

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: July 23, 2008

Three years ago Hernando High decided to go in a different direction with its head coach position, not rehiring Pete Lahey in favor of the returning Walt Cermak.

With a change in administration and the program again searching for a new leader, this time it's Lahey who will make his return to the bench.

The school recently selected Lahey as its new head coach, giving him back the job he held for four seasons from 2001-2005.

"I'm looking forward to it," Lahey said. "It's another challenge. I'm looking forward to see what I can do.

"...Whatever happens in the past stays in the past. I'm not going to worry about that. I'm going to go forward."
Lahey recap

Lahey's first tenure at Hernando coincided with the final prep season of Bernice Mosby, the county's all-time leading scorer and now a forward for the WNBA's Washington Mystics.

The Lady Leopards went 23-5 that season, reaching the regional final and earning Lahey Hernando Today's Coach of the Year honors.

That marked Hernando's last regional appearance. In three seasons following Mosby's graduation, Hernando went 21-52 under Lahey, leaving him with a 44-57 mark overall.

After a 6-18 campaign in 2004-05, Hernando turned to Cermak, the county's all-time leader in coaching wins who guided the Lady Leopards from 1981-1985 and again from 1986-2000.

However, Cermak's comeback was brief. He retired after two seasons in which the team went 6-20 and 8-18, leading to the hiring of former Hernando player JoSandra Maner.

Relying on the All-County frontcourt of April Griffey and Jasmire Brown, the Lady Leopards enjoyed a resurgence of sorts, going 17-7 but losing to Gulf High in the Class 4A, District 8 Tournament semifinals.

Yet Hernando again found itself looking for someone to take the program's reigns amid many changes. The biggest change at the Brooksville campus is the principal, from Betty Harper to Ken Pritz.

The athletic director position is also in transition, from Marion Jones to John Palmer. Brent Gaustad, who last year left his role as A.D. at Hernando to become an administrator at Springstead High, has been reassigned to Hernando and assisted Pritz on athletic matters.

According to Gaustad, Maner did not reapply for the girls' basketball job. Maner did not return a call seeking comment.

That re-opened the door for Lahey, who apparently left an impression on Pritz during a face-to-face meeting at the end of the school year.

"He had put down that he was interested in doing girls basketball," Gaustad said. "Mr. Pritz had a great conversation with him. He liked what he was doing and wanted him to come back and do girls basketball again."
Lahey has served as girls' tennis head coach the past two seasons and intends to continue in that capacity. A former boys hoops coach in Indiana, he has stuck around the game the past few years, helping out Greg Linley at Springstead two years ago and at Tampa Prep last year.

He has also spent a great deal of time following the prep career of his daughter, Brittany, who just graduated from Central High, limiting his exposure to the Hernando program.

Though Griffey, the county's scoring champ, has graduated, Brown enters just her junior season. She averaged 13 points per game last season and evolved into the team's primary ball handler.

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

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