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Sharks off to solid start

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Photo by ALICE MARY HERDEN

Nature Coast guard Donovan Ingram goes up for a layup in Saturday night's game versus host Dunnellon in the Dunnellon Thanksgiving Classic

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: November 28, 2009

DUNNELLON - Nature Coast came into this season with a roster featuring more height and depth than ever seen in the program's seven-year history.

All of that was on display this weekend in the Dunnellon Thanksgiving Classic. The Sharks opened things Friday by trouncing first-year Strawberry Crest, 82-40.

On Saturday night, they followed by thumping the host Tigers, led by former Central Head Coach Eric Hayes, 81-51.

"We knew going into this, Coach Hayes is a great coach," Nature Coast Head Coach Dave Pisarcik said. "His teams are always well-coached. We knew we had to be ready and execute our game plan.

"Coming out we did. We got in some foul trouble. Other guys stepped up. We did a good job of replacing the void until the second half. We knew it was going to be a tough game and we wanted to see how our kids handled adversity and the kids responded."

Roaring out in front

The Sharks looked as dominant as advertised early, holding Dunnellon (0-3) without a field goal until Marlon Palacio's basket with 20 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Nature Coast roared out in front 23-7 after one, though the Tigers hung close in the second quarter and went into halftime down by the same margin, 43-27.

In the first quarter, three of the Sharks' top frontcourt players, Tyler Bergantino, Matthew Dennis and Adam Smith, all had to sit down with two early fouls.

Fortunately for Nature Coast, guard Donovan Ingram tallied 12 of his game-high 18 points in the opening half, and Jamel Byrd added eight.

Dunnellon stayed within arm's length for much of the third quarter, closing to within 47-36 around the 4:30 mark on a three-pointer by Damaine Falconer.

Starting to gain some momentum, the Tigers then nearly forced a turnover with their press. Yet the Sharks got the ball across midcourt to Ingram, who fed Bergantino for an easy layup.

"I just do what I always do," Ingram said. "Penetrate and hit the most important guy on our team. If he plays well, we win."

The 6-foot-9 Bergantino came off the bench as he begins his sophomore season recovering from offseason knee surgery.

He still contributed 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots, while generally making it tough for the Tigers to accomplish anything in the paint, on both sides of the floor.

"I'm feeling good. I got a new knee brace. That helps a lot with the pain," Bergantino said. "I feel like I played all right. It's not the best I could do. I feel like I missed quite a few opportunities. I could do a lot better.

"…We've got a great group of kids that are very talented; great teammates. I'm very thankful for that."

Nature Coast gradually pulled away in the fourth quarter, pushing the lead past 30 halfway through. In addition to Ingram and Bergantino, Byrd added 12 points and Guan Whitsett nine.

Dunnellon got 12 points out of Reid Love and 11 from Zavala Rich. Hayes took the head-coaching job less than a month ago and had half his team out until last weekend due to football.

"It wasn't anything (Nature Coast) did," Hayes said. "To me, we've got focus issues. We don't have the focus to play the game for 32 minutes.

"…They've (the Sharks) got a real good mix. Over the long haul, the more they play together and familiarize themselves with each other, they'll make a strong push toward the end of the season."

The Sharks won't play again until they host Zephyrhills on Thursday in a big Class 4A, District 8 clash.

"I thought we did a good job," Pisarcik said of the Dunnellon tournament. "But when you get to district play, you've got to be able to play defense. At times we looked tough. At times we looked mediocre.

"We're off until Thursday. That gives us time to see other teams and get our defense right."

NATURE COAST 81, DUNNELLON 51
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Nature Coast 23 20 20 18 — 81
Dunnellon 7 20 15 9 — 51
Nature Coast (81): Ingram 8 2-4 18, Dennis 2 0-0 4, Smith 1 2-2 4, Whitsett 4 0-0 9, Lowman 1 2-2 5, Bergantino 5 3-5 13, Byrd 3 6-7 12, Parker 3 0-0 6, Martin 2 0-0 5, McDonald 1 0-0 2, Mazia 1 0-0 2, Waddy 0 1-4 1, Kinney 0. Totals 31 16-24 81.
Dunnellon (51): Falconer 2 2-2 7, Rich 3 5-13 11, Brown 2 0-0 5, Love 3 5-8 12, Humbert 1 2-2 5, Jackson 3 0-1 6, Palacio 2 0-0 4, Joseph 0 1-2 1, Brooks 0, Leonvil 0. Totals 16 15-28 51.
Three-point field goals: NCT 3 (Lowman, Whitsett, Martin); DUN 4 (Love, Brown, Falconer, Humbert).
Total fouls: NCT 21; DUN 23.
Technical fouls: Jackson (DUN).
Fouled out: Brown (DUN).
Records: Nature Coast (2-0), Dunnellon (0-3).

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

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