Upset Averted

Friday's first Class 4A, District 8 semifinal was supposed to be a mere undercard for the Nature Coast-Gulf match-up later that night.

Hernando High, however, apparently had other ideas, as the fourth-seeded Lady Leopards pushed top seed Wiregrass Ranch to the limit and produced a dramatic performance for the crowd at Nature Coast.

Brittany Flowers' desperation three hit the front of the rim just before time expired, giving the Lady Bulls a heart-stopping 52-49 victory.

"It was a great effort by the girls," Hernando Head Coach Pete Lahey said. "They came out and played, played their hearts out. But just a few turnovers here and there, we'd like to take back some of the open layups, but just a great effort on my team's part."

Wiregrass Ranch (22-4) looked sluggish and sloppy early, with Kayla Deloach accounting for all eight points in the first quarter.

The Lady Bulls managed to take a one-point lead into halftime, 22-21, despite a jumper by Rianna Jenkins just before the horn.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Julie Gould and Kelly McCaffrey pushed Wiregrass Ranch in front 33-27 midway through the third quarter, but the Lady Leopards (10-14) just wouldn't go away.

Jasmire Brown fired one in from beyond the arc at the end of the third to give Hernando a 38-37 edge heading into the final period.

Regan Knapik began the fourth quarter with a three for Wiregrass Ranch and McCaffrey converted a three-point play as the Lady Bulls appeared primed to pull away, 43-38.

Still Hernando hung around, though Brown fouled out with 3:19 play and Jenkins shortly thereafter, leaving the Lady Leopards without their top scorer and two primary ballhandlers.

Gould and Knapik both hit key free throws in the final minute to hold off any last comeback, though Hernando had one last chance when Flowers tried to hit from the top of the key.

"It was a lot closer than we expected, of course," Wiregrass Ranch Head Coach Greg Finkel said. "But Hernando came to play tonight, hats off to them.

"These girls are young. This is the first time we've been in this situation. Basically what we're seeing is the entire school all expecting our team to win. We witnessed the nerves come out in this game.

"But the flipside, let's be proud that with all that, we still pulled this off."

Deloach finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Knapik scored 12 points and Gould 10 to go along with six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Lady Bulls advanced to Saturday's final versus Nature Coast and also earned the first regional berth in the school's three-year history.

"It does mean a lot quite honestly to me for this program," Finkel said. "But I'm not addressing it yet. We've got one more game to go."

Brown led the Lady Leopards with 15 points and six rebounds. She also had three steals. Flowers provided 12 points and Jenkins four steals.

"The pressure wasn't on us," Lahey said. "The pressure was on Wiregrass. They're the number one seed. We had nothing to lose so go all out. They were ready to play."

WIREGRASS RANCH 52, HERNANDO 49
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Hernando 9 12 17 11- 49
Wiregrass Ranch 8 14 15 15- 52
Hernando (49): Brown 5 2-4 15, Flowers 4 4-4 12, Geiger 2 1-2 5, Jenkins 3 0-0 6, Lawrence 2 5-8 9, Liles 0 2-4 2, White 0, Kalina 0, Jones 0. Totals 16 14-22 49.
Wiregrass Ranch (52): Wash 0, McCaffrey 3 1-1 8, Deloach 4 5-8 13, J. Gould 3 3-9 10, Knapik 4 3-4 12, Reid-Chacon 2 2-2 6, L. Gould 0 3-4 3, Bowman 0. Totals 16 17-28 52.
Three-point field goals: HER 3 (Brown 3); WGR 3 (McCaffrey, J .Gould, Knapik).
Total fouls: HER 23; WGR 18.
Technical fouls: McCaffrey (WGR).
Fouled out: Brown, Jenkins (HER), McCaffrey (WGR).
Records: Hernando (10-14), Wiregrass Ranch (22-4).