Last summer when Jason Montgomery stepped down as head coach at Nature Coast, he ended an extremely successful four-year stint at the helm of the Lady Sharks.
Travis Lamle spent three of those seasons as his right-hand man, and this season faced the task of filling his shoes and maintaining the dominance of a program that has never lost a county game or failed to advance to regionals.
The first-year headman guided Nature Coast to its third district championship in four years, while once again the Lady Sharks went perfect versus county competition.
In a season that saw Hernando High have its first winning season since 2001-02, and Hernando Christian Academy earn the first regional berth in team history, still nobody could solve Nature Coast.
The 2007-08 Hernando Today All-County Team reflected that, as it included three Lady Sharks: Cherikhan Waddy, Lauren Wajerski and Shareka Maner.
Hernando's Jasmire Brown and April Griffey, HCA's Meredith Hanshaw and Central's Ronisha Browdy filled the other spots.
More accolades
Additionally, Waddy repeated as Player of the Year while Lamle became the first person in five years other than Montgomery to earn Coach of the Year.
"It's a tremendous honor," Lamle said. "It all falls back on the girls. It was a great team, very talented. They work very hard. It's easy to coach those kids.
"It went all right. There were times when the inexperience at this level came into play. I had seven seniors too, that tends to make life a little easier."
Waddy was one of those seniors, the guard joining the junior Maner and fellow senior Browdy as three-time all-county selections.
She and Maner combined to form an athletic inside-outside tandem that served as the backbone of the 22-6 Lady Sharks.
Maner, a 6-foot center with the size to play in the post and a shooting touch to play on the perimeter, finished second on the team to Waddy in scoring at 11.6 points per game.
She nearly averaged a double-double, pulling down 9.7 rebounds per contest, while also averaging 2.9 steals and 2.4 blocks.
"She's dominant in the post, she can go outside and shoot the three," Lamle said. "She can go inside when she wants to. She slashes to the basket well. She's a tremendous offensive rebounder. She can guard one through five, she's very versatile."
This marks the second all-county selection for Wajerski, another senior who completed her third full season starting for Nature Coast.
She finished third in scoring on the team at 8.1 points per game, adding 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals.
"She moved positions after three years, she moved from down low with the departure of (Jessica) Eberts. She essentially became our No. 2 guard," Lamle said. "I think her scoring went down because of that. She's a fierce competitor. She's a kid that hates to lose."
HHS: strong up front
Hernando went 17-7 under first-year Head Coach JoSandra Maner, largely on the strength of its imposing frontline.
Griffey, a senior and repeat all-county selection, ended Browdy's two-year reign as county scoring champion, averaging 14.7 points per game.
The lone underclassman on the all-county squad, the sophomore Brown evolved into a point forward role, averaging 13 points per game and taking on much of the ball handling duties.
"April is just a great athlete," Coach Maner said. "She has a great attitude, she's a hard worker. She doesn't give up, she doesn't get discouraged. She came out and played every game no matter what.
"Jasmire, her attitude changed a great deal. She was more positive this year; more of a team player and just a hard worker. She never complained.
"They were a big key. They were both very aggressive. They kind of worked good together. They played well off each other. They had a rhythm going. They had to get it done for us. Others stepped up but they got it done for us."
As for Browdy, though she did not three-peat as scoring champ, her 13 points per game tied Brown for second in the county. The four-year varsity guard also eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau for her career, and blew away the rest of the county making 60 three-pointers.
"She started (the entire last) three years, she never missed a practice," Central Head Coach Penny Gressick said. "She worked hard, she worked over the offseason.
"She's a pure shooter. She liked to put the ball up in the air anytime she was open. One thing she did a better job with was taking it to the basket and getting to the free throw line. She made everyone else around her better."
Hanshaw completes the all-county team, the senior guard leading HCA at 8.4 points per game.
She was part of a core group of Lady Lions who spent the past four years helping Head Coach Jim Bragg build a successful program, along with fellow seniors Mary Ellen Langley and Danielle Kuka, and junior Heidi Riley. HCA went 15-8, finishing as the runner-up in Class 1A, District 6.
"They hustle," Bragg said. "They're competitors. They like to win. They give everything they've got. They gave me everything they had from day one."
Hernando Today's 2007-08 All-County Girls Basketball Team
Name School Year Position
Ronisha Browdy# Central Sr Guard
Jasmire Brown Hernando So Forward
April Griffey* Hernando Sr Forward
Meredith Hanshaw HCA Sr Guard
Shareka Maner# Nature Coast Jr Center
Cherikhan Waddy# Nature Coast Sr Guard
Lauren Wajerski* Nature Coast Sr Guard
Player of the Year - Cherikhan Waddy*, Nature Coast
Coach of the Year - Travis Lamle, Nature Coast
* Denotes repeat selection
# Denotes three-time selection
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