County title remains a possibility

BROOKSVILLE - Nature Coast (17-7) kept its hopes alive for a county title, at home, with a win over archrival Hernando (0-22) in boys basketball Friday night with a 58-34 victory, keeping the Leopards out of the win column.

"The guys knew how important this game was, tied for first" said Nature Coast's first-year Head Coach, David Pisarcik. "This win keeps us at that status. Anytime it's a conference game it doesn't matter what the records are, the conference games are always tough. They bring the most fans and it always brings the most enthusiasm and our guys came to play. We all clicked tonight."

The Sharks overcame a slow first quarter, each team committing four turnovers.

With a 12-3 lead, Nature Coast built on that score beginning with a steal by Joey Silvestri and a quick pass to Jake Meier, who connected with Reshad Terry breaking for the hoop for two points and a 16-3 lead at the 7:30 mark of the second quarter.

A minute and a half later, Bryant Pent intercepted a pass and drove the length of the floor for an easy lay-up and two more points.

Hernando's Jamel Byrd countered by picking up a loose ball and scored to cut the lead to 20-7.

Silvestri took a pass from Meier and hit a three-pointer from the left side and repeated the deed 30 seconds later from the right for his third trey on the night.

The Leopards' Lamon Neal blocked a Silvestri shot attempt, picked up the loose ball and broke for the other end, but failed to convert the layup which kept the score at 28-13 going into halftime.

Turning up the heat

The second half began with Nature Coast turning up the heat and P.J. Orgass driving into the lane and scoring two of his 16 on the night, making the score 30-13.

Seconds later, Orgass missed from in close and grabbed the rebound and put it back in for another two.

Nature Coast put an exclamation mark on the third quarter when Mike Adams hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds left for three of his seven points, 45-20 Sharks.

Orgass led all scorers with 16. He was followed closely by Silvestri with 15 along with six rebounds. Terry had a big second quarter, scoring eight of his 12 on the night.

Byrd led the Leopards with nine points, three boards and committed two thefts. Neal and Corey Emerson each contributed six markers.

A Shark win tonight against Central, will guarantee at least a tie with Springstead for the Hernando County Athletic Conference title.

Hernando's Head Coach Chris Ridenour saw improvement in his team from the previous match-up.

"We got some looks but we just did not finish. It was like there was a lid over the rim," said Ridenour. "They hurt us a little bit in the corners on some threes. We knew that coming in and we just didn't make the adjustments we needed to. We didn't execute as well on the defensive end of the floor."

"I did see some good things out there," Ridenour added. "We are going to keep working hard."