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Hernando Today

One That Got Away

4A BOYS BASKETBALL FINAL

Tampa Tribune photo by JULIE BUSCH

Springstead senior Domnique Roberson reacts after the Eagles lost Saturday's Class 4A state championship game to Cocoa, 75-60.

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: March 7, 2009

LAKELAND - For 31 1/2 games, no one could solve Springstead High and its stifling pressure defense.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, that one last half separated them from a perfect season and a state championship Saturday at The Lakeland Center's George Jenkins Arena.

Springstead rushed out to a commanding 17-point lead in the first half, only to get out-scored 49-23 by Cocoa in the final two quarters to drop the Class 4A state title game, 75-60.

"It hurts bad," Springstead senior forward Domnique Roberson said. "To get beat, last game of the season, it kind of feels like everything we did didn't matter."

The Eagles (31-1) set a Hernando County record for wins and became the county's first basketball team to ever advance to the state finals.

However, the school's first athletic state championship slipped through their fingers as the deeper Tigers (30-3) turned the tables on Springstead, wearing it down with their own press.

Familiar start

Following a nearly identical script as in its previous four state playoff games, Springstead blitzed Cocoa out of the gate, forcing the Tigers into seven turnovers across their first eight trips down the floor.

When Dante Valentine stole away the ball before Cocoa could hit half court and found Nick Steadman for a floater, the Eagles had a 10-0 lead.

Down 14-4, Cocoa responded with a 9-0 run, cutting the deficit to one on Julius Reid's lay-up with 55 seconds left in the quarter.

However, Roberson stole the ball and went all the way for a basket, and Valentine went coast-to-coast to bank in a runner at the horn, making it 18-13 after one.

Isaiah Mason scored six points early in the second quarter and 13 across the first two periods, and his free throw with 1:40 left in the half opened up the Eagles' biggest advantage, 36-19.

The Tigers made a small rally in the final minute, going into halftime down 37-26 after Reid hit an off-balance, twisting bucket shortly before time expired.

Using its own press, Cocoa forced Springstead into four turnovers to begin the third quarter. Reid turned a steal at half court into a bank shot to pull the Tigers within five, 41-36, at the 5:46 mark.

"We didn't break the press," Springstead Head Coach Pat Kelly said. "We got the ball in and dribbled into traffic. They did to us what we do to people."

The Eagles continued to struggle to score and Cocoa finally took a 42-41 edge on Reid's two free throws with 2:33 to go in the third.

The Tigers out-scored Springstead 20-4 in that period, with Reid accounting for nine points, and took a 46-41 lead into the fourth quarter.

A barrage of threes down the stretch extended Cocoa's lead. Maurice Pugh's trey with 4:39 pushed the advantage to 60-49 and seemed to kill any chance of the Eagles putting together a rally.

Compounding matters, Springstead's two best players, Mason and Valentine, fouled out with a little over three minutes left.

Mason went scoreless in the second half, while Valentine ended up with just nine points for the game. Roberson led the Eagles with 19 points, seven rebounds and six steals.

Free throwing shooting, an Achilles' heel all season, finally haunted Springstead in a 9-of-22 effort from the charity stripe.

The Eagles shot just 11-of-27 (41 percent) from the field and turned the ball over 15 times in the second half.

Conversely, Cocoa shot 55 percent over that span, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, and hit 11-of-13 free throws. The Tigers also cut their turnovers down to 10 after losing the ball 17 times in the first half.

Young finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds to help the Tigers dominate the glass, 39-27. He added three blocks and Reid chipped in 18 points, six rebounds and two steals.

"In the second half we didn't have fear," Cocoa Head Coach James Rowe said. "We played with fear in the first half. Before we left the bench at halftime I told them tonight we're going to see the greatest comeback in state history.

"And the kids responded. We stepped up our pressure defense and hit some big shots as the momentum swung."

Kelly took responsibly for the loss, feeling he should have spread out more offensively against the press. He went as far as to admit Rowe out-coached him and praised his players' effort and achievement.

"To me, for these kids it's commendable what they did," Kelly said. "These kids were connected and flowed and did a great job. For them, it's unbelievable what they accomplished."

COCOA 75, SPRINGSTEAD 60
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Springstead 18 19 4 19 — 60
Cocoa 13 13 20 29 — 75
Springstead (60): Roberson 9 1-3 19, O'Neil 4 0-1 9, Mason 5 3-8 13, Valentine 3 3-8 9, Steadman 3 2-2 8, Latimer 1 0-0 2, Noury 0, Wild 0. Totals 25 9-22 60.
Cocoa (75): Pugh 2 2-2 8, Young 10 0-1 20, Hollingsworth 1 0-0 2, Clark 2 6-8 11, Reid 6 5-5 18, Johnson 4 0-1 9, Strickland 3 1-2 7, Capell 0, Younger 0, Jones 0, Grubbs 0, Woods 0, Patrick 0. Totals 28 14-19 75.
Three-point field goals: SPG 1 (O'Neil); COC 5 (Pugh 2, Clark, Reid, Johnson).
Total fouls: SPG 19; COC 15.
Technical fouls: none.
Fouled out: Mason, Valentine (SPG).
Records: Springstead (31-1), Cocoa (30-3).

CLASS 4A STATE FINALS
at The Lakeland Center

03-05
Springstead 61, Pensacola 49
Cocoa 61, Bartow 52

03-07
(Championship)
Cocoa 75, Springstead 60

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

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