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Bombs Away!

HCA’s Heidi Riley shoots between the defense of Seffner Christian’s Jenny Moorer (23) and Courtney Welch (24) Thursday night in Brooksville.Central

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: November 20, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Hernando Christian Academy Head Coach Trey Crawford figured his team would have to prepare for at least one Seffner Christian shooter.

Think again. Oh sure, the visiting Crusaders showed the capability of hitting from the beyond the arc Thursday night at The Lions' Den. They just had more than one person doing it.

Seffner Christian knocked down 10 three-pointers as the Crusaders rolled to a 64-36 blowout victory over HCA in the season opener for both teams.

"I knew it was going to be a tough game going in," Crawford said. "Half our team is freshmen. We lost about everybody from last year. They were a team of four seniors and five juniors. So obviously we came in undermanned.

"But they've got a good program at Seffner. I've never seen a team shoot threes like that. We were trying to stop their big girl (Jenny Moorer) inside. I figured they had one shooter on the perimeter but they showed me they had 2-3 shooters on the perimeter."

Early barrage

With almost the entire second half played under a running clock, the Crusaders hit all their three-pointers in the first half.

They had five alone in the opening quarter, two apiece by Moorer and Arielle Jadlowski. Moorer scored 12 of her 21 points in the period as Seffner Christian led by as much as 25-7.

Jadlowski had four threes and 16 of her 24 points in the second quarter. Her basket scored off the ninth assist by point guard Alexandra Hagel pushed the advantage past 30, 49-18.

Before the intermission, Jadlowski drilled her sixth trey to make it 52-18, putting the game on the verge utilizing a running clock at halftime.

A putback by Courtney Welch on the first possession of the third quarter enforced the mercy rule, since Seffner Christian led by at least 35 in the second half.

HCA actually outscored the Crusaders over the final two abbreviated periods, 18-12. Heidi Riley, the team's lone senior and returning starter, had 10 points.

Madison Manuel also chipped in 10 points and four steals, Courtney Crawford four points, four rebounds, three blocks and two steals, and Madeline Hanshaw seven points and seven rebounds.

"I'm proud of my girls," Coach Crawford said. "They gave 110 percent. I can't ask more from them. I knew the first game was going to be the toughest one going in. We found out where we're at and we'll go from there."

Moorer had six rebounds and three steals to go with her high point total, while Welch contributed 10 points, six boards and two steals.

"Offensively we were shooting the ball well like we figured we would," Seffner Christian Head Coach Greg Fawbush said. "Defensively we've still got a ways to go.

"Overall there's a lot of leadership on this team. These girls are leaders and they're an easy team to coach."

SEFFNER CHRISTIAN 64, HCA 36
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Seffner Christian 25 27 9 3 — 64
HCA 11 7 13 5 — 36
Seffner Christian (64): Moorer 8 2-2 21, Welch 4 2-5 10, Walters 1 2-4 4, Hagel 1 2-2 5, Jadlowski 8 2-2 21, Schubel 0 0-1 0, Bryant 0, Collett 0, Price 0. Totals 22 10-16 64.
HCA (36): Riley 3 4-4 10, Hanshaw 3 0-0 7, Co. Crawford 2 0-2 4, M. Manuel 3 4-6 10, R. Manuel 2 0-0 4, Hogan 0 1-2 1, Ch. Crawford 0, Drummond 0. Totals 13 9-14 36.
Three-point field goals: SC 10 (Jadlowski 6, Moorer 3, Hagel); HCA 1 (Hanshaw).
Total fouls: SC 15; HCA 12.
Technical fouls: none.
Fouled out: none.
Records: Seffner Christian (1-0), HCA (0-1).

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

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