For the second straight week, boys basketball teams from Nature Coast and Hernando participated in a local holiday tournament, this time with the Sharks hosting the Nature Coast Christmas Tournament Monday through Wednesday. In a stout 16-team field, drawing programs from Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties as well as three from Ohio – the home state of Nature Coast head coach Dave Pisarcik – the Sharks went 1-2 while finishing fourth in their bracket.
“We really don’t care about the wins and losses. We just want to gain the experience,” Pisarcik said. “If we gain the experience and it helps us win a district, then the tournament’s been a success. We have to be able to learn from this and not repeat the mistakes that put us in a situation where we’ve got to be uncomfortable.
“I’m happy with the way it went because we’re going to learn from it. If we don’t get better, we’re not going to be where we want to be at the end of the year.”
The Sharks (11-5) opened their tournament slate on Monday with 55-32 win over Gulf Breeze, but lost on Tuesday in overtime to Tampa-Gaither, 71-68. Senior guard Nick Crima scored 22 points and dished out four assists in the loss to the Cowboys. Kaine McColley added 21 points, nine rebounds and two steals, and Jamison Carnegie chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. However, in a game full of hot shooting from the perimeter and free-throw line by both teams, Nature Coast couldn’t shut down Raquan Waller early (four 3-pointers, 12 points) and Darius Hopkins late (four 3-pointers, 20 points).
“We definitely want to win every game we come out to play, but it’s just about experience,” Pisarcik said. “But we’ve got to know what it takes to win these types of games. They’re quick, they’re athletic, they made shots. Got to take your hats off to Gaither. Credit to them, they made shots in the end and made just enough plays.
“We had opportunities to win. We had our opportunities. We’ve just got to be tough enough to be able to finish out the games like this.”
On Wednesday, the Sharks lost to Wesley Chapel in a third-place contest, 42-35. Reggie Jennings scored 12 of his 27 points in the first quarter for the Wildcats, who never relinquished their early lead.
“Every game we’ve played against Wesley Chapel, I even told the guys, ‘It’s going to be a tough time to score.’ They’re always good defensively,” Pisarcik said. “We knew going into the game, we’d have to execute our stuff, we’d have to make shots.
“They harass you defensively and they make you make plays. We’ve just got to have enough playmakers to be able to win a game, and tonight we didn’t have enough playmakers to do that.”
Hernando had a rough go, ending up 0-3. The Leopards (5-10) lost to Wesley Chapel on Monday (56-41), Clearwater-Countryside on Tuesday (58-55) and Gulf Breeze on Wednesday (61-46).
The only other county prep sports action on the short final week of 2015 involved wrestling teams from Nature Coast and Springstead. For the Eagles, it was a trip to Kissimmee-Osceola on Tuesday and Wednesday for the Knockout Christmas Tournament, where they finished 23rd with 42 team points. Senior Brandon Burgess was Springstead’s lone placer, taking sixth at 182 pounds. After dropping his opening bout to Josiah Gittman of Fort Lauderdale-St. Thomas Aquinas, 6-1, he rattled off three straight wins. Burgess defeated Anthony Didden of Palm Harbor University (8-7), Tim Gandino of Phoenix (N.Y.) by forfeit and Orlando-Freedom’s Darrell Wallace (10-7). Burgess finished off the tournament with losses to Domonique Hargrave Jr. of Camden County (Ga.), 10-2, and Ryan Smenda from Orange Park-Fleming Island, 2:30.
Across Monday and Tuesday, Nature Coast went 2-5 and placed seventh in the Rob Hermann Hurricane Cup Duals at Citrus High. DeShawn Smith and Anthony Contegiacomo each went 7-0.