Successful senior sendoff

As soon as Jasmire Brown received the plaque, she burst into tears and found her way into her mother's embrace. Turns out, she had no idea it was coming.

Thursday's meeting with South Sumter marked Hernando's Senior Night, and after watching his five seniors introduced in front of the home crowd, Head Coach Kevin Bittinger had one special presentation.

One night earlier, the senior forward Brown became the sixth player in program history to score 1,000 career points as a member of the Lady Leopards.

"I have no words to explain it," Brown said. "I was surprised. I didn't know about it. I was striving for it, but I didn't know I made it already."

Brown, playing for the final scheduled time at Michael A. Imhoff Gymnasium, then went out and added 19 more points to her total - 1,020 overall - in a 66-47 victory.

"It's just great," Brown said. "We knew it was Senior Night. We wanted to win and just played as a team. And we were patient with everything.

"It's kind of emotional because it's Senior Night. That's the last time I'll be playing on my home court for four years. It's emotional, but it's fun because you're doing it with people that you love."

Payback time

Last month the Lady Leopards (10-9) actually lost at South Sumter (8-12), 58-55, but this one was never in much doubt.

In a sequence around the 6:20 mark of the second quarter, Brown found fellow senior Liz Lawrence for a bucket, then scored off an assist from Lawrence after she stole the ball, opening up a 23-12 advantage.

The lead hovered around 10 for much of the game until Hernando pulled away late in the fourth quarter.

"It's great for the seniors," Bittinger said. "You want to win your last home game for the seniors. They were all able to contribute. That's what you want.

"Sumter is a physical team. You have to be able to play physical basketball. That's what we did. We were diving for loose balls, played physical in the post and I think that was a huge difference."

Brown added fives steals to her offensive output. Brittany Flowers chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds, while Lawrence added 13 points, six boards, four assists, three steals and a block.

Latasha Kennerson led the Red Raiders with 20 points, hitting 12-of-15 foul shots. She also pulled down nine rebounds to go along with five steals and four assists.

But the night belonged to Brown and her team, which will finish the regular season with four straight road contests.

"She's so well-rounded," Bittinger said of Brown. "How many of those points came off steals and layups? How many off putbacks and rebounds? She's been under four different coaches that have asked her to play four different roles. For her to do what she did, it says how talented she is.

"...This girl works. And she's a strong kid. Nowadays you see so many kids so quick to transfer and this kid stayed loyal to Hernando High School. Any accolades she gets, she deserves. It says a lot about her character."

As the Lady Leopards head toward the postseason, Brown wants to see her final prep campaign go on for as long as possible, and feels confident it will.

"It's been great," Brown said of the season. "Perfect coach, perfect team, it couldn't be no better. I wouldn't want to do it with anybody else."

HERNANDO 66, SOUTH SUMTER 47
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
South Sumter 9 16 12 10 - 47
Hernando 17 18 13 18 - 66
South Sumter (47): Ford 3 1-2 8, Mitchell 2 0-0 4, Sumner 3 0-2 6, Kennerson 4 12-15 20, Harris 1 0-0 2, Sullivan 2 1-1 5, Taylor 1 0-0 2, Flores 0. Totals 16 14-20 47.
Hernando (66): Brown 8 3-7 19, Lawrence 6 1-3 13, Beverland 1 0-0 2, Liles 1 0-0 3, Killingsworth 0, Flowers 7 1-1 15, White 3 2-3 9, Kalina 1 1-2 3, Dixon 1 0-0 2, Jones 0, Heath 0. Totals 28 8-16 66.
Three-point field goals: SS 1 (Ford); HER 2 (Liles, White).
Total fouls: SS 19; HER 19.
Technical fouls: none.
Fouled out: none.
Records: South Sumter (8-12), Hernando (10-9).

BY THE NUMBERS: HHS 1,000-POINT SCORERS
Rank Name Points
1. Bernice Mosby 2,163
2. Kristi Poore 1,776
3. Robin Adkins 1,085
4. Marcey Lee 1,069
5. Jasmire Brown 1,020
6. Sara Bartos 1,000