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Hernando Today

Survival By The Slimmest

4A-8 GIRLS BASKETBALL

Staff photo by BOB EAST III

Nature Coast's Shareka Maner makes a lay-up during the first quarter of Friday's 4A-8 semifinal against Gulf.

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: February 6, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - At the start of the Class 4A, District 8 Tournament at Nature Coast Technical, the host Lady Sharks, seeded third, and second-seed Gulf figured to meet in a hotly-contested semifinal.

When those two teams actually took the court against one another Friday night, the game certainly lived up to its billing.

In a back-and-forth battle tied at 26 heading into the fourth quarter, Nature Coast survived in front of its home crowd to earn the sixth consecutive regional playoff berth for the sixth-year program, 40-34.

The Lady Sharks also earned the right to take on top seed Wiregrass Ranch in Saturday night's championship tilt, shooting for their third straight district crown and fourth in five years.

"Real big. Real big game," Nature Coast senior center Shareka Maner said. "Very intense. You get so pumped because the crowd is behind you. The fact you want to win and have people supporting you, it's just crazy.

"…I think the fourth quarter everyone starts to realize we've got to hold on. That's when everyone gets pumped and comes at you because both teams want to win real bad."

Maner steps up

When Maner scored 25 points in Wednesday's quarterfinal win over Hudson, Head Coach Travis Lamle said she needed to duplicate that effort for the Lady Sharks (20-6) to have a chance against Gulf (22-5).

She delivered in a big way Friday, tallying 21 points, nine rebounds and two emphatic blocks that brought the home fans to their feet.

"The last five or six games she's been absolutely incredible," Lamle said. "Her intensity has been there. Her desire to win is much higher. She's carried us the last five or six games.

"…Maner was a huge difference for us down the stretch. She's just a man-child. She's playing like she should have all year long."

Maner scored eight points in the pivotal final period including a three-point play out of a timeout called after the Lady Buccaneers took 29-26 lead with 6:31 to play.

"We just settled them down," Lamle said of that timeout. "The game was starting to get away from us we thought. We changed up the defense. We tried to confuse (Gulf point guard) Nicole (Adams) as much as we can. She's a great player, she'll figure things out. We basically chased her all night."

Nature Coast point guard Crystal Anthony drove to the hoop and found Maner for a lay-up with 1:32 remaining, opening up a 35-31 advantage.

Adams sank a three-pointer with 53 seconds left to cut the deficit to one. Jen Marshall missed the front end of a one-and-one, yet the rebound went out of bounds back to the Lady Sharks.

Marshall responded by knocking down 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with 28.2 ticks on the clock to make it 36-34.

Gulf failed to score on the ensuing possession and was forced to foul Marshall. However, it was called an intentional foul, meaning the Lady Sharks would get two free throws and the ball.

The referee's decision enraged both Gulf Head Coach Mike Quarto and a fan in the crowd who was escorted out.

Marshall hit both free throws, then got essentially close-lined by a Gulf player, resulting in another intentional foul. She went 1-for-2 from the line to ice the game, which ended without further incident.

"I thought she went after the ball, the ref saw it differently," said Quarto in addressing the call after the game.

Quarto pointed to free throw shooting as the key. The Lady Bucs went 10-of-20 from the foul line while the Lady Sharks hit 16-of-22.

"It's a close game on their court," Quarto said. "You go 10-of-20 from the free throw line, it'll cost you down the stretch.

"She (Maner) came out great in the first half. She's a Division I prospect. I really think we did a good job on her in the second. She got loose one time and it cost us but I'm happy with the way we defended her in the second half."

Adams had 12 points to lead Gulf. Kianna Mills pulled down 16 rebounds as the Lady Bucs held a huge edge on the glass, but Mills scored just eight points and had only one field goal.

Marshall added 11 points, five rebounds and three steals to compliment Maner.

Coming into districts seeded lower than second for the first time in school history, Nature Coast found a way to reach the state playoffs again.

"I brought in some kids from last year's team," Lamle said. "I wanted to make sure the young kids knew what they were getting into.

"…(In Saturday night's final) I expect another good game."

NATURE COAST 40, GULF 34
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Gulf 10 9 7 8 — 34
Nature Coast 13 10 3 14 — 40
Gulf (34): Brosnan 0, Seybold 3 0-5 6, Mills 1 6-7 8, Adams 4 2-4 12, Jones 1 0-0 2, McAuliffe 1 2-4 4, Melgard-Cyman 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 10-20 34.
Nature Coast (40): Helfand 0, Joens 1 2-3 4, Maner 7 5-7 21, Anthony 0 2-2 2, Marshall 2 7-10 11, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Byrd 0, Bossey 0. Totals 11 16-22 40.
Three-point field goals: GUL 2 (Adams 2); NCT 2 (Maner 2).
Total fouls: GUL 18; NCT 16.
Technical fouls: none.
Fouled out: McAuliffe (GUL).
Records: Gulf (22-5), Nature Coast (20-6).

CLASS 4A, DISTRICT 8 TOURNAMENT
at Nature Coast Technical

02-02
Springstead 45, Sunlake 36

02-03
Gulf 55, Zephyrhills 21
Wiregrass Ranch 54, Springstead 25

02-04
Hernando 47, Pasco 36
Nature Coast 66, Hudson 29

02-06
Wiregrass Ranch 52, Hernando 49
Nature Coast 40, Gulf 34

02-07
(Championship)
Wiregrass Ranch vs. Nature Coast, 7:30 p.m.

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

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