CRYSTAL RIVER – Tuesday night’s season opener for the Hernando boys basketball team featured district opponents in opposite situations.
On one side of the court was host Crystal River, a district runner-up last season returning four of its five starters. Then there was visiting Hernando, with just one starter back from the 2015-16 campaign.
As such, the result was predictable, as the Pirates captured an 87-69 victory. But the Leopards could take solace that, following a rugged first quarter, they hung with their Class 6A, District 7 foe the rest of the way.
“This is a whole new crew for us, so we’re going to go through some ups and downs throughout the year,” Hernando head coach Jeff Laing said. “But I was proud of the boys. I didn’t see any quit.
“The key for us all year is going to be not turning the ball over, controlling the defensive boards and making free throws. And if you look at the game, we shot very poorly on free throws (12-of-23) and we had over 20 turnovers, and offensive rebounds was kind of in and out. But I see we can grow. We can only get better. I know that and I’m happy with the guys.”
Crystal River (2-0 overall, 1-0 6A-7) jumped out to a 29-18 lead by the end of the first quarter, with senior Tyler Pollard accounting for much of the damage with 14 points.
Hernando got the deficit down to single digits in the second, but still trailed 47-36 at the half and could never quite fight its way back into it.
Pollard, who fouled out with 5:37 remaining, still paced everyone with 27 points and 14 rebounds, to go along with two steals.
“It was all a team effort,” Pollard said. “Like Coach said in the locker room, it’s scary to think we scored 87 points in a game and we can only get better.
“Just my team passing the ball. When you have to guard everyone on the court, it leaves opportunities for everyone else.”
He definitely had plenty of help, with Caleb Bray chipping in 20 points, six rebounds, six steals and four assists. Josh Cole added 13 points and eight boards, and Xavier Francois-McCullough had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Ygenio Booker led the Leopards with 23 points plus five rebounds. Muhannad Abdaldean tallied 11 points and three steals, while Noah Batten had eight points and six rebounds. A.J. Williams and Theo Escarment also had eight points apiece.
“It’s 25 one-game seasons and let’s see if we can get better by the time we get to the end,” Laing said. “We’re going to win some games, we’re going to lose some games. But they’re a good bunch of kids. They’re working hard. I see us improving over time and I’m excited for the end of the season to see where we are.
“I think we do really well in transition. But it depends on how that junior class grows. If they grow, then we’re going to do well.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.
