Roberson Rises to Occasion in Romp

SPRING HILL - For every positive, there must be a negative; for every pro a con; for every balance a counter balance.
Rarely does that idea apply more aptly than it did to the game that took place Thursday night at Springstead High.
One end of the court stood the host Eagles, the current model of success locally with only one loss on the season and a perfect slate in both Class 4A, District 8 and the Hernando County Athletic Conference.
The opponent for the three-time defending county champion and two-time defending district champs: Hernando High - owners of zeros victories on the year.
Despite the absence of the county's second-leading scorer, Springstead junior point guard Dante Valentine, the outcome remained predictable. The Eagles coasted to their 14th straight win, 62-22.
"Our pressure took them out of the game right away," Springstead Head Coach Pat Kelly said. "They were indecisive with the ball, so we were able to create a lot of opportunities quickly. Our kids were aggressive."

Roberson steps up

With Valentine serving a week-long suspension after receiving two technical fouls against Central High the previous Friday, the Eagles (15-1 overall, 11-0 4A-8, 4-0 HCAC) needed to replace his team-high 21.2 points per game.
Junior forward Dominic Roberson came in averaging 11 points, though that stat changed significantly when he scored 28 in Tuesday's 70-60 win over Wiregrass Ranch.
The transfer from Tampa-King High has evolved into Springstead's Mr. Versatility. Along with his scoring, he has averages of 7.8 rebounds, 3.9 steals and 3.3 assists.
However his role has changed with Valentine out of the line-up. He followed up his season-high performance against the Bulls by tallying 18 points, 12 rebounds and six steals versus Hernando (0-16 overall, 0-11 4A-8, 0-4 HCAC).
"I'm just playing. I can score when I want to but it's a team thing," Roberson said. "Coach told me I need to step up. Dante is a big contribution to the team. With him gone, some people need to fill in some spaces.
"It's a little different. There are more openings for me to score. I can have two points. It doesn't matter; as long as we get a 'W' it's all right."
Roberson had a double-double by halftime, with all his points and 10 boards, plus four steals in the opening two quarters.
The Eagles led by as much as 30 in the second quarter and carried a 39-11 advantage into the intermission.
With 5:57 left in the third, they forced a running clock when 5-foot-8 Nick Steadman skied for an offensive rebound and went back up for the lay-up, 47-11.
Steadman, Valentine's replacement in the starting line-up, finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four steals. Addison O'Neil added 13 points, five boards and four steals.
"Roberson is starting to step up game-by-game, time after time, as well as O'Neil," Kelly said. "They're just blue-collar workers. They're men. They realize the game is not played on paper. They bring their lunch pail and hat and get after it game after game. Steadman is starting to get that mentality as well.
"...I've got kids that come to play. They want to win. That's a good thing. I've been blessed with kids that want to play hard. I'm grateful for that."

Others chip in

Nehemiah Mason put 12 points on the board. The fifth starter, Andrew Echanique, didn't score yet contributed a game-high five assists.
Ryan Sabaski chipped in seven points off the bench to lead a brigade of seldom-used reserves who saw significant action in the second half. He had not scored in the three previous games he played.
Anthony Flugel also notched his first points of the season on a hoop in the fourth quarter.
"We got to see our bench players in there, score some points," Roberson said. "We had some good laughs. That's better than fighting it out at the end of the game."
Carlos Ford led the Leopards with five points. Corey Emerson pulled down nine rebounds off the bench. Nate Howell added four points, four rebounds and two blocked shots, and Shane Eikenberry four points, four rebounds and three steals.
"I thought we closed out with a good 4-5 minutes," Hernando High's first-year Head Coach Chris Ridenour said. "They never quit. They hustled, played hard. As a coach, that's all I can ask for.
"Obviously we have trouble turning the ball over. We did do some good things at the end. We've just got to eliminate the turnovers. All they know is how to practice, come out every game, play hard and see what happens."
 
SPRINGSTEAD 62, HERNANDO 22
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Hernando 4 7 2 9 - 22
Springstead 22 17 17 6 - 62
Hernando (22): Byrd 1 2-4 4, Ford 2 0-0 5, Nelson 0, Neal 0, Eikenberry 2 0-0 4, Howell 2 0-2 4, Coleman 1 0-0 3, Emerson 1 0-2 2, Steitz 0 0-1 0, Stephenson 0, Brown 0. Totals 9 2-9 22.
Springstead (62): Roberson 8 2-5 18, O'Neil 6 0-0 13, Echanique 0, Steadman 5 0-1 10, Mason 3 6-7 12, Sabaski 3 0-0 7, Flugel 1 0-0 2, Noury 0, Inniss 0, Jablon 0, Brennan 0. Totals 26 8-13 62.
Three-point field goals: HER 2 (Ford, Coleman); SPG 3 (O'Neil, Sabaski).
Total fouls: HER 10; SPG 9.
Technical fouls: none.
Fouled out: none.
Records: Hernando (0-16 overall, 0-11 4A-8, 0-4 HCAC), Springstead (15-1 overall, 11-0 4A-8, 4-0 HCAC).