Sudden stop

Earlier in the season, Nature Coast saw its string of 41 consecutive county wins come to an end.

Friday night in the Class 4A, District 8 Tournament at Wiregrass Ranch High, the Lady Sharks witnessed another lengthy streak reach its conclusion.

Second-seeded Nature Coast dropped a semifinal to third-seeded Lecanto, 55-45, meaning it will miss out on the regional playoffs for the first time in its seven-year history.

"It's very disappointing," Nature Coast Head Coach Travis Lamle said. "We've known nothing but success at our school when it comes to this. This is the first year we didn't get there.

"I think we've got some really good, talented young kids. I feel bad for (senior Alyssa) Joens and (senior Jen) Marshall. Those two are the epitome of what you'd want in your program. It shows you've got to take care of little things before you can get to big things."

Savery early; Jackson late

When the Lady Sharks (17-9) beat the Lady Panthers (18-5) back in December, senior forward Stephanie Savery sat out with an injury.

She was back in the lineup this time around, and made her presence felt quickly. She had all 10 of her points in the first quarter, knocking down three three-pointers.

A foul on one of those treys resulted in a four-point play that made it 9-0 at the 3:48 mark of the period.

Lecanto would take a 14-3 advantage in the first when Kelly Gilroy stole the ball and passed it up ahead to Jade Spivey for a layup. The lead expanded to 24-11 midway through the second quarter.

Yet momentum started to turn toward the end of the half, as the Lady Panthers sat down star Bri Jackson with two fouls.

Nature Coast stormed into the intermission on an 11-2 run, making it 26-22 on a Marshall three shortly before the halftime horn.

"We just told them at halftime, they have all the pieces where they need them," Lecanto Head Coach Jack Hall said. "We told them to keep their heads in it, keep playing. Just go out and play."

Still, the Lady Panthers couldn't initially quell the rally. Marshall knocked down another shot from beyond the arc to tie the score at 30 with 4:51 left in the third quarter.

That's when Jackson started to take things over, often just driving hard into the lane to draw a foul. She shot 14 free throws in the second half, though only hit on eight of them.

But the 5-foot-4 junior showed off her undeniable athleticism, leaping high in the air to snare a long out-of-bounds pass by Nature Coast, then sprinting to the basket for a layup that made it 46-37 with 5:05 to play.

She finished with game-highs of 24 points, 12 rebounds and five steals, two nights after dropping 38 points on Hernando in the quarterfinals.

"She forces the defense to do things they don't want to do," Hall said. "You have to cover her because she's too big of an offensive threat. That opens up the rest of the floor."

"We tried to guard her in man, pack it all in, and she still was able to penetrate in the paint," Lamle said. "We chased her and she still got the ball."

As the game wound down, Jackson exhibited her exceptional quickness and ball skills, essentially out-maneuvering the Lady Sharks as they desperately tried to foul her.

Meanwhile, Nature Coast lost Marshall for the final two minutes as she aggravated a preexisting rib injury originally suffered last week. She tallied 16 points and three steals in her final prep hoops contest.

Joens added 11 points and eight rebounds as she too played her last game for the Lady Sharks. Mariah Byrd had 10 points and two steals.

Maria Taylor posted 10 points and 11 rebounds for Lecanto, which moved on to Saturday's championship game versus top-seeded Wiregrass Ranch, while Nature Coast can only watch for the first time ever.

"I think it might have been overlooking things, too," Lamle said. "The kids were really focused on Wiregrass and couldn't take care of the job in front of us."