Eagles Receive Scare From Bears

BROOKSVILLE - Springstead High mostly romped through the first half of the season, receiving few serious challenges in Class 4A, District 8 play while compiling an 11-1 won-lost mark.
A night after shaking off the holiday rust in a 49-26 win over River Ridge High, the Eagles got perhaps their toughest challenge aside from an 81-66 loss to Armwood High in the season's second game.
Just who finally stepped up and made Springstead break a serious sweat? How about Central High?
Yes, Central. The Bears, a 2-22 team a season ago, who haven't had a winning campaign since 2003-04 - also the last season they earned a victory over the three-time defending county champion Eagles.
Central gave Springstead all it could handle, the Eagles needing a fourth-quarter rally to capture a chippy contest at the Bears' Den on Friday night, 61-56.
"They played Nature Coast to a two-point game. They've got one of the best players (Darryn Frazier) in the area. They're well-coached," Springstead Head Coach Pat Kelly said of Central. "They have a plan, they executed it pretty well but in the end our defense caused turnovers to put the game away.
"They (the Eagles) stayed focused. (Dominic) Roberson made some great steals; (Nehemiah) Mason made some great steals. They hit some big shots. It was a collective effort."

Refs rankle Eagles

Kelly appreciated that his team pulled through under "adverse conditions."
Though he did not elaborate on those conditions, the Eagles (13-1 overall, 3-0 Hernando County Athletic Conference) clearly weren't happy with the officiating.
The team's leading scorer, junior point guard Dante Valentine, got hit with two technical fouls over the course of the game. The second came with 2:15 left to play, though at that point the Eagles had taken control.
Kelly, who argued several calls, also received a 'T' when the referee deemed he shouted too forcefully for a time-out. Even the Springstead scorekeeper got ejected for reacting negatively to a call.
That made for a rather punchy atmosphere, magnified by Central (4-13 overall, 1-2 HCAC) out-scoring the Eagles in the third quarter, 22-13.
Down two at halftime, 26-24, the Bears went ahead when Frazier knocked down a three-pointer 13 seconds into the second half.
Frazier drained another shot from beyond the arc at the 3:09 mark to provide his club with its biggest advantage, 40-32.
Central led 46-39 heading into the fourth quarter. Barrett Sheffield hit 2-of-3 free throws at the end of the third after getting fouled on a buzzer-beating attempt.
"I told them at halftime, they had 26 at the half and at least half was because we had turnovers and they had lay-ups," Central Head Coach Eric Hayes said. "We take care of the basketball and we'll have easy opportunities. We penetrated, got some guys open and hit some shots."
Unfortunately, that turnover problem returned in the final period. Valentine and Ben Noury each hit three-pointers early, cutting the deficit to one, 48-47, with 5:59 to go.
Mason knotted it at 48 with a free throw, and then blocked a shot that led to a go-ahead basket by Valentine at the 4:48 mark.
Addison O'Neil scored off an offensive rebound and Valentine found Mason for a hoop to push the lead to 54-48.
"We did bring some pressure," Kelly said. "We wanted to make them put the ball on the floor. We were able to and even when the defense broke down, the tempo took them off-balance."
Frazier missed a potential game-tying three with 34 seconds remaining, and Nick Steadman hit on 2-of-4 free throws down the stretch to hold off the Bears.
The county's defending scoring champion, Frazier, finished with 31 points. At 23.9 points per game, he has now overtaken Valentine in this season's county scoring race.
Valentine ended up with 13 points, his average dipping to 21.1. Mason led Springstead with 16 points, while Roberson added 12 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. O'Neil tallied nine points and six steals.
Though Central didn't win, this game did show the gradual improvement of the program. The Bears have already doubled their win total from last season, own a win over Hernando and lost by just 58-56 to Nature Coast on Dec. 13.
"I feel like we're the best team in this county," Hayes said. "People think we're going to roll over and play dead. Those days are over. This is showing us that we're just as good as anyone around here."

SPRINGSTEAD 61, CENTRAL 56
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Springstead 15 11 13 22 - 61
Central 7 17 22 10 - 56
Springstead (61): Noury 3 2-3 9, O'Neil 3 3-4 9, Roberson 5 2-5 12, Valentine 5 2-5 13, Mason 6 3-4 16, Steadman 0 2-4 2, Echanique 0. Totals 22 14-25 61.
Central (56): Frazier 11 6-8 31, Fulton 2 0-0 4, Lula 4 1-2 9, Sheffield 1 4-5 6, G. Rodriguez 1 0-0 2, Barnes 1 2-2 4, Loreston 0, Whitsett 0. Totals 20 13-17 56.
Three-point field goals: SPG 3 (Mason, Valentine, Noury); CEN 3 (Frazier 3).
Total fouls: SPG 16; CEN 22.
Technical fouls: Valentine 2 (SPG), Kelly (SPG-coach).
Fouled out: Valentine (SPG).
Records: Springstead (13-1 overall, 3-0 HCAC), Central (4-13 overall, 1-2 HCAC).