Springstead goes stone cold

The temperature outside heated up just a little bit, but Springstead's shooting remained as cold as ice on Wednesday night.

For the second straight day the Eagles fell in the Sunlake High School New Year's Invitational by an identical score, 54-29.

This time, however, rather than perennial powerhouse Ridgewood, Springstead faced what seemed a more beatable opponent in Zephyrhills.

It didn't work out that way as the Eagles (3-10) struggled to generate any sort of offense, while the Bulldogs (9-5) knocked down seven three-pointers.

"Once again defensively we did a pretty decent job, we just didn't shoot the ball well," Springstead Head Coach Steve Thompson said.

"...I thought our shot selection was not bad. We played very tentatively. They came in and took it to us. We've got to find the spark we had earlier in the year, because right now we've lost it."

Bombs away

Akhil Mani's fadeaway three at the buzzer provided the biggest highlight of the opening quarter, but Kyle Farrell's three early treys set the tone.

"He came out and on that first one, he got the bounce," said Zephyrhills assistant coach Tim O'Connor, running the team with Head Coach Alan Reed out of town due to a family emergency.

"Anyone that's played the game, you feel like if you hit that first one, you're on for the night, and I certainly think he was."

Farrell ended up with a game-high 23 points and hit four shots from beyond the arc. However, it was a pair of back-to-back layups in the third quarter, making it 33-12, that essentially put the game away.

Marquise Jackson added 11 points. The Bulldogs rebounded from an 85-60 loss to Mitchell a day earlier.

"After last night, there was really only one way for us to go, to come out and play a decent game," O'Connor said. "I think we did that.

"...We didn't feel they were a good perimeter-shooting team. We also felt like they were probably quicker than us. So the zone (defense) was the answer."

Thompson noted his team's struggles to break down the Zephyrhills defensive scheme.

"We thought we could compete with Zephyr and they went to a 2-3 zone and did a good job," Thompson said. "When you face zone, you've got to attack the gaps. If you look to pass around the perimeter, that's not going to work for you."

Nick Steadman tallied 11 points and three steals to the pace the Eagles. They'll face Gulf in their tournament finale Friday at 4 p.m.

Ironically, Thompson was hired at Gulf over the summer but resigned when the school couldn't provide a teaching job. He ended up at Springstead in September.

ZEPHYRHILLS 54, SPRINGSTEAD 29
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Springstead 8 2 8 11 - 29
Zephyrhills 17 7 13 17 - 54
Springstead (29): Inniss 1 0-0 2, Townsend 1 0-0 2, Vanlow 0 2-2 2, Steadman 5 0-0 11, Maggard 2 0-0 4, Hall 3 0-0 7, DeCroix 0 1-2 1. Totals 12 3-4 29.
Zephyrhills (54): Jackson 3 4-6 11, A. Mani 3 0-0 7, Wable 1 0-0 2, Farrell 9 1-2 23, McLeod 2 0-0 5, Roberts 2 0-0 4, Novak 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 5-8 54.
Three-point field goals: SPG 2 (Steadman, Hall); ZEP 7 (Farrell 4, A. Mani, Jackson, McLeod).
Total fouls: SPG 10; ZEP 9.
Technical fouls: none.
Fouled out: Vanlow (SPG).
Records: Springstead (3-10), Zephyrhills (9-5).

SUNLAKE NEW YEAR'S INVITATIONAL
at Sunlake High

01-06
Mitchell 85, Zephyrhills 60
Ridgewood 54, Springstead 29
Sunlake 54, Gulf 46
IMG Academy 62, Wesley Chapel 48

01-07
Zephyrhills 54, Springstead 29
Wesley Chapel 55, Gulf 46
Sunlake vs. IMG, late
Ridgewood vs. Mitchell, late

01-08
Springstead vs. Gulf, 4 p.m.
Zephyrhills vs. Wesley Chapel, 5:30 p.m.
Sunlake/IMG loser vs. Mitchell/Ridgewood loser, 7 p.m.
(Championship)
Sunlake/IMG winner vs. Mitchell/Ridgewood winner, 8:30 p.m.