With all the summer-fall sports now officially concluded in Hernando County, we move into the fall-winter season of athletics and it brings on boys and girls basketball. Along with basketball is boys and girls soccer, weightlifting and wrestling. We take a brief look at all the boys basketball teams across Hernando County and what to look forward to this upcoming 2017-2018 campaign.
Central: Matt Zendecki’s squad was second to Nature Coast in terms of overall team record, as the Bears went 20-10 in the 2016-2017 season. Back with several key returners, Central is still one of the county’s top teams along with the Sharks and Eagles. The Bears split games against Anclote and Bishop McLaughlin in the Central Breakfast Station Preseason Classic tournament, defeating the Hurricanes and losing to the Sharks 66-63. Senior point guard Caleb Johnson is back and averaged 19 points per game last season.
Hernando: The Leopards went 8-18 last season and to make matters a bit tougher, they graduated their leading scorer from a year ago in Muhannad Abdaldean. Abdaldean averaged 15 points per game for Hernando and now much of that scoring load will go to returners like Ygenio Booker, who was second on the team in scoring.
Nature Coast Technical: Hernando County’s top team from a year ago has another roster loaded with talent, as the Sharks finished at 27-2 in 2016-2017. Sharks coach David Pisarcik lost his two top scorers from last season in Kaine McColley and Anthony Valante, whom both averaged over 13 points per game. Pisarcik now must find players to fill their roles and that will start off with the team’s third leading scorer in Robert McAfee, who averaged around 10 points last season. Nature Coast has several interesting matchups to watch out for, including games against Jefferson, Mitchell and Academy at the Lakes.
Springstead: Springstead was led in the scoring department last season by sophomore Robert Gomez, who averaged 11.4 points per game for the Eagles. Springstead had only two other players average over nine points per game, which included Jeffrey Cotnoir and Noah Torkelson. Cotnoir, who is currently a junior, averaged 9.5 points and pulled down 6.3 rebounds per game for the Eagles. McGarry pointed out before the last season began that last season’s group would be one of the younger teams he’s fielded in recent memory and the team would rely upon its youth to step up if the Eagles were to make a run towards a district title. Gomez ended up being the team’s leading scorer and is expected to take on a larger role this season.
Weeki Wachee: The Hornets list it’s leading scorer from a year ago in Ian Hornung, who led Weeki Wachee in scoring at over 10 points per game. Weeki Wachee is coming off a 2-23 campaign and have started off this 2017-2018 with losses to Bishop McLaughlin and Anclote in the Central Breakfast Station Preseason Classic. Games early on in the season against Fivay and Gulf will be indicators on how the team will do this winter.