Coming into Friday night’s much anticipated rivalry game between the defending FHSAA Class 6A, District 7 Central Bears and the Nature Coast Sharks, the visiting Sharks weren’t just playing to reassert their dominance over the county. Rather, the visitors were also attempting to extend their winning streak to six games and their 35-point running clock streak to five games.
And after the game was over, safe to say both objectives were met and exceeded.
Riding behind a stout defense and hot hands from roughly every starter and bench player, Nature Coast raced out to an early lead and never looked back, thoroughly defeating the host Bears 78-29 in a game that wasn’t even remotely close, as evidenced by the first quarter ending in the Bear Den with the Sharks leading 23-2.
For the Sharks as a unit, the team shot 65 percent (24 of 37) from the field and 32 percent from long distance (7 for 22). The team also shot 60 percent from the charity stripe (9 of 15). On the other side, the Bears shot 29 percent from the field (8 for 28), and out of their 18 shots from long distance, only one went through the net. NCT also dominated the glass, outrebounding the Bears 35-17.
On the side of the Sharks, the team was so well-oiled on the offensive side that every starter and bench player took at least one shot from the field. The starting five was led by senior guard Robert McAfee, who continued his hot streak from the Hernando game last week, going 5 of 6 from the field and going perfect from the free-throw line. He would finish with a game-high 16 points and added 7 rebounds to his season totals.
McAfee wasn’t the only player who was playing well. Shooting guard Jacob Caban had the second highest point total, scoring 12 points on 3 of 6 shooting from long range and 3-3 from the free-throw line. Also, four players on the Sharks (Esteban Lopez, Brandon Clarke, Dheron Barnes, and Cai Teague) did not miss any of their combined 14 shots from close range.
For Nature Coast head skipper Dave Pisarcik, this game had nothing to do with the results of last season. “Nothing can change what happened last season. Last season we had a great season, beating them on their court to advance to the Elite 8, but that’s old money. We don’t dwell on the past or celebrate the past, just keep looking forward. We’ve already spent that money, so now we must earn new money. You don’t want to click right now, but hitting your stride is crucial, and fortunately our guys have been answering the call. We still have a long season ahead of us, and these games are important for seeding in the district tournament.”
For the Sharks, they have two matchups next week. On Tuesday night, the team travels north for another district matchup, and their opponent this time is the Citrus Hurricanes. After that, they finish up at home on Friday night against Crystal River. Following this game, the team will welcome in 15 other teams for their annual Christmas tournament, which begins on December 27 and runs through the 29th.