The Lion Kings

BROOKSVILLE - Hernando Christian Academy (HCA) finished its first annual holiday basketball tournament in grand style beating Berean Academy of Tampa (BAT) by 52 points en route to a championship Friday night, 72-20.
After beating Academy at the Lakes on Thursday evening by 43 points in the opening round, HCA turned up the pressure and sealed the victory early, ensuring the inaugural trophy would remain in the Lions' Den.
The game resembled the previous night's one-sided affair, HCA giving up only six first-quarter points, and 11 at the half while compiling 23 and 25 for a halftime lead of 48-11.
Down 37 points, Berean dug too deep a deficit to recover.
All but one HCA Lion found their way into the scoring column, with center Clay Kessler leading the way with 12 points, two rebounds and a steal. Jakob Gaustad accounted for nine points and led the team in rebounds with seven, grabbing one steal himself.
Three other Lions had eight apiece with Marti George and Brett Eastin collecting five rebounds each. Matthew Hunter was the major thief, swiping six, and Timothy Hellmers picked Berean's pockets four times.
Turnover fest
HCA (8-2) started the game with full-court pressure and didn't let up the entire game forcing Berean (2-8) into 42 turnovers, 22 of them steals.
Berean's first three possessions ended up in turnovers, and four of the first five possessions went over to HCA.
With 7:29 left in the first half, George drove the lane and dished off to Gaustad and he laid it in for two points and a foul.
With 3:05 left in the first half, Matthew Hunter stole the ball and finished with a lay-up, then repeated the same offense with 1:30 left in the half.
Berean Head Coach Will Robertson praised HCA.
"We were just outmatched," said Robertson. "They were a very quick, very athletic team. We have a very young program and were lucky to get a nice draw in the first round game. They are just a solid team. (George) was on our team last year and he would drop 30 points a game. From top to bottom they were quick, fast and well-disciplined, a great team. One thing I'm proud of about my team is they work really hard and they are diligent despite having to play teams of this level."
HCA Head Coach Bill Brooks encouraged his team to stay focused after the game.
Reminding them they were playing Monday night against another rival, Brooks said, "We have our work cut out for us."
He spoke proudly of the team's effort adding, "We just wanted to play solid defense and shut down number five (Nate Seiben). He was the one we were concentrating on (six points). We played pretty good defense on him. The boy I put on him (George) played with him last year.
"We have a tough game Monday against Citrus Park," Brooks added. "I've been keeping stats on them. They've got two players averaging double figures. One or both of them will score over 20 a game, so we're going to have to go to work on them"

HERNANDO CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 72, BEREAN ACADEMY OF TAMPA 20
Scoring 1 2 3 4
BAT 6 5 5 4 -- 20
HCA 23 25 11 13 -- 72
BEREAN ACADEMY OF TAMPA (20) - Del Monte 6 0-3 13, Seiben 2 2-2 6, Fritz 0 0-1 0, Datsko 0 1-2 1. Totals - 8 4-8 20
HERNANDO CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (72) - Hellmers 2 1-1 6, George 4 0-0 8, Eastin 2 0-0 4, Gaustad 3 3-3 9, Kessler 6 0-0 12, Westfall 4 0-0 8, Hunter 3 2-2 8, Bronson 2 2-3 6, Townsend 1 1-2 3, Mikkola 1 0-0 2, Kautsky 3 0-0 6, Wilson 0. Totals - 31 9-11 72.
3-point field goals - BAT Del Monte (1), HCA Hellmers (1).
Total fouls - BAT 12; HCA 10.
Fouled out - none.
Technical fouls - HCA Gaustad (1).
Records - Berean Academy of Tampa (2-8), Hernando Christian Academy (8-2).