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Hernando Today

Sharks Sputter, Still Win

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: January 30, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - It was one of those odd nights where the losing coach sounded happier than the winning one Friday at Michael A. Imhoff Gymnasium.

Visiting Nature Coast Technical completed a season sweep over county and Class 4A, District 8 rival Hernando High with a 42-26 victory.

However, Shark Head Coach Dave Pisarcik didn't hold back his displeasure with his team's play.

"When you shoot the ball like that, it's going to be a low-scoring game," Pisarcik said. "Give credit to Hernando. They played great defense. They came out with intensity and set the tone early. Our guys had to match it.

"I think in the second half we made just enough plays. But it was a frustrating game to be a part of."

Offense takes night off

Freshman center Tyler Bergantino dominated the paint in the first quarter, scoring eight of his 10 points to help Nature Coast (15-8 overall, 10-6 4A-8) take a 15-10 lead.

The Sharks failed to score that many points over the next two periods combined, notching just six in both the second and third quarters.

Yet Hernando (6-16 overall, 3-13 4A-8) only managed 10 points in that span. The Leopards cut a 21-12 halftime deficit to three, 23-20, on a Corey Thomas jumper at the 3:30 mark of the third.

Nature Coast outscored Hernando 19-6 the rest of the way, taking as much as a 17-point lead, 41-24, on Jake Meier's three-pointer with 1:47 to play.

Meier finished with a game-high 14 points, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc. Bergantino added six rebounds and four blocks while Mike Fields had seven points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Sharks have just one regular-season game left, next Friday at Central, and have now completed their district slate.

They finished tied for the third with Zephyrhills, however they'll fall to the fourth seed in the district tournament because of a tiebreaker.

The two teams split head-to-head, the first tiebreaker, taking it to the second tiebreaker, won-loss record versus the highest seed and proceeding down the standings.

Both teams lost twice to first-place Springstead and second-place Hudson, but Zephyrhills' sixth district loss came to Hernando, while Nature Coast lost to Sunlake, a team higher in the standings.

"We're playing well at times," Pisarcik said. "But just like any other team, if we go into a shooting slump, we've got to rely on defense or hope the other team is in a shooting slump like we are. But when we're hitting our shots, we are a good team."

As for Hernando, the Leopards could point to significant improvement from a 63-36 loss at Nature Coast earlier in the month.

Thomas Bronson led the team with nine points and seven rebounds. His teammate Thomas contributed 10 rebounds and three steals.

"We're playing better," Hernando Head Coach Mark Latsko said. "Tonight we just couldn't put the ball in the basket. You can't beat anyone scoring 26 points.

"The first time we played them, we were in a lot of zone (defense) and they got a lot of open three-point looks and we've been playing man-to-man pretty much ever since then.

"It's good that the kids are as disappointed as they are, because they know we can compete with Nature Coast and Central, which are rivalry games, and early in the year we weren't competing."

NATURE COAST 42, HERNANDO 26
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Nature Coast 15 6 6 15 — 42
Hernando 10 2 8 6 — 26
Nature Coast (42): Adams 1 1-2 3, Fields 3 0-0 7, Bergantino 4 2-3 10, Meier 4 3-4 14, Lowman 0 1-2 1, Williams 2 0-3 4, Emerson 0 3-8 3, Lynch 0, Waddy 0. Totals 14 10-22 42.
Hernando (26): Thomas 3 0-0 6, Jackson 1 4-6 6, Bronson 3 3-4 9, Wilson 0 1-4 1, Delaine 2 0-0 4, Stephens 0, Owensby 0, Roberts 0, Walters 0, Knapp 0. Totals 9 8-14 26.
Three-point field goals: NCT 4 (Meier 3, Fields); HER 0.
Total fouls: NCT 11; HER 20.
Technical fouls: none.
Fouled out: Delaine (HER).
Records: Nature Coast (15-8 overall, 10-6 4A-8), Hernando (6-16 overall, 3-13 4A-8).

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

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