HCA falls just short

Mike Drummond told his team at halftime that the third quarter would be crucial. Unfortunately for the Lady Lions, their head coach was right.

Third-seeded Hernando Christian Academy carried a 22-18 lead into the intermission during Thursday's Class 1A, District 8 Tournament semifinal at the Citrus Park Christian gym.

However, the third quarter proved the Lady Lions' undoing, as No. 2 seed Seffner Christian out-scored them 20-6, and then held on for a 47-44 victory.

"I told (the Lady Lions at halftime) they're (the Lady Crusaders) panicked a little bit," Drummond said of his halftime speech. "They're not supposed to be in this situation and if we keep applying pressure, they might panic enough to lose this one."

Instead, Seffner Christian (17-7) rallied to earn its eighth-straight regional berth and a spot in Saturday's championship game.

"The thing about my team, there's no panic," Seffner Christian Head Coach Greg Fawbush said. "They're fighters."

Foul trouble

What Drummond didn't count on in the third quarter was his leading scorer, Courtney Crawford, going to the bench in foul trouble.

HCA (13-7) came into the game already short-handed, with senior point guard Madison Manuel suspended six weeks due to an altercation in last Friday's regular-season finale versus Ocala-St. John Lutheran.

Yet Crawford's 12 points in the first half helped push the Lady Lions out in front. They led 25-22 when the sophomore picked up her fourth foul at the 3:48 mark of the third quarter.

The Lady Crusaders proceeded to turn up the pressure and went on a 16-1 run, finally stemmed by a Remi Manuel bucket just before the period ended, taking a 38-28 advantage into the fourth.

"We knew she was a good," Fawbush said of Crawford. "She had a phenomenal game against us. We chose to go small instead of big against her, which hurt us.

"When she got her fourth foul, it played right into what we want to do. We're a pressing team, but we couldn't do it with her in there because she was controlling us."

"I think it's her leadership, especially in the press offense," Drummond said of what was missing with Crawford out. "She's our go-to girl, not only handling the ball, but she calms everybody down.

"We just kind of panicked ourselves a little bit, but I think the kids showed a lot of character clawing their way back into it."

Crawford re-entered to start the final quarter, and within a minute and a half HCA cut the deficit to three, 40-37, on a fast-break basket from Remi Manuel to Madeline Hanshaw.

Still the Lady Lions could never regain control, trailing by one when they sent Seffner Christian guard Sabrina Whiting to the foul line in a one-and-one situation with 9.3 seconds left.

After a timeout, the eighth-grader knocked down both shots from the charity stripe in impressive fashion.

"There was no doubt she would make those free throws," Fawbush said. "You could see it in her eyes. They were made."

Following another timeout, HCA tried to get Remi Manuel the final shot attempt, but the Lady Crusaders disrupted the play enough that it ended up in the hands of Shelby Sexton.

Shayla Bryant blocked Sexton's desperation three-point try, leading to a scrum for the loose ball that ended the game.

Whiting paced Seffner Christian with 14 points, while Arielle Jadlowski contributed 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Kelsey Schubel had nine points and 11 rebounds.

Crawford finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Hanshaw had 10 points, six boards, four assists, two blocks and two steals; Remi Manuel added seven points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

"I'm real proud of the girls," said Drummond, who took over for Trey Crawford at midseason. "I thought they played very hard. They faced a lot of adversity and overcame a lot to get an opportunity. They came real close."

SEFFNER CHRISTIAN 47, HCA 44
Qtr. Scoring           1   2   3   4
HCA                       9  13  6  16- 44
Seffner Christian  12  6  20  9 - 47
HCA (44): Hanshaw 5 0-0 10, Ch. Crawford 2 0-0 4, Co. Crawford 7 2-4 16, Hogan 1 1-2 4, R. Manuel 2 3-4 7, Sexton 1 0-0 3. Totals 18 6-10 44.
Seffner Christian (47): Bryant 0 3-4 3, Jadlowski 4 3-3 12, Schubel 4 1-2 9, Hagel 3 1-2 7, Whiting 4 6-6 14, Busiglio 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 14-17 47.
Three-point field goals: HCA 2 (Hogan, Sexton); SC 1 (Jadlowski).
Total fouls: HCA 11; SC 9.
Technical fouls: none.
Fouled out: none.
Records: HCA (13-7), Seffner Christian (17-7).

CLASS 1A, DISTRICT 8 TOURNAMENT
at Citrus Park Christian

02-02:
Citrus Park Christian 39, Bayshore Christian 5

02-04:
Seffner Christian 47, HCA 44
Bradenton Christian 60, Citrus Park Christian 29

02-06:
(Championship)
Bradenton Christian vs. Seffner Christian, 7 p.m.