BROOKSVILLE – It may be early in the season, and the opposing team was minus its leading scorer Tuesday night.
Nonetheless, Nature Coast’s boys basketball team served notice that it’s far from ready to be knocked off its perch atop the district. Hosting Crystal River in a key Class 6A, District 7 clash, the defending district champion Sharks overcame an early deficit to pull away with a 71-59 victory.
“I knew coming in they’d be tough. I feel like they’re one of the top-tier teams in the district,” Nature Coast head coach Dave Pisarcik said. “We’ll take the win, but we know that a 20-point scorer will be back. So we’re going to have to adjust, we’ll get back to the drawing board, and hopefully we’ll be able to do it when they’re at full strength.
“I knew coming in this would be a tough game for us, and I’m just glad we were able to pull it out toward the end.”
Senior guard Caleb Bray, averaging a team-best 20.2 points over the first five games for the Pirates (3-3 overall, 2-2 6A-7), was not available for this one due to illness.
Still, Crystal River played well in the first quarter, knocking down three 3-pointers in the period and leading 17-11 at its conclusion. The advantage grew to 23-15 before the tide began to turn.
Robert McAfee knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to tie it at 26 for the Sharks (4-0 overall, 3-0 6A-7), though the Pirates did carry a 28-26 edge into the intermission.
But in the second half, Nature Coast took control. They tallied four treys in the third quarter, two of them by guard Austin Rivera, and had built the lead to 61-46 early in the fourth.
“We sort of just got into rhythm a little bit (in the second quarter),” Pisarcik said. “I knew coming in it would be this type of game. Tough game and we would trade baskets. We’d go on a run, they’d go on a run. I felt like we just got into the niche of the game.”
All five of the Sharks’ starters reached double figures in scoring, led by Kaine McColley with 20 points to go with nine rebounds and two blocks. Jordan Baxter added 14 points and 10 boards. McAfee and Anthony Valante totaled 11 points apiece, while Rivera had 10.
“We started out a little bit slow. We were slacking on defense,” McColley said. “But we stuck together. We started playing with a lot of energy in the second half, and Baxter was getting a lot of offensive rebounds, that helped us. McAfee was getting to the basket and just hit shots.”
McColley also had the highlight of the night, heaving a shot from the opposite free throw line and banking it in as time expired in the third.
“It felt good once I released it and I wasn’t surprised when it went in. I’ve never hit a shot like that.” McColley said. “It feels good to be 1-0 against them because we think they’re a team we can see in a district championship if we get to that point.”
Xavier Francois-McCullough paced the Pirates with 15 points plus five rebounds and two steals. Josh Cole added 12 points and five assists, while Tyler Pollard scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds.
“We take 20 points a game we usually get out of (Bray) and senior leadership, too; that hurts us,” Crystal River head coach Jim Ervin said. “It’s just a game. These games don’t really matter. It’s that district tournament that matters.
“We’re not worried about the wins and losses right now. Of course we want to win, but we’re worried about when the districts come around.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.