Hernando Christian Academy’s girls basketball team knew it faced an uphill battle in Saturday night’s Class 2A, Region I final. Unfortunately for the Lady Lions, they were right. Traveling to Tallahassee to face defending state champion Florida A&M University Developmental Research School, HCA saw its finest season ever end with an 83-12 loss.
“We broke their press all night long. We just couldn’t score,” HCA head coach Mike Drummond said. “Sometimes you run into a team that just has better basketball players. But they were everything we thought they would be. Top to bottom they’ve just got a lot of great girls who can play a team game.
“It was a great season, a great run. The girls are champions. They played hard throughout.”
Senior point guard Mary Jackson, in her final prep game, led the Lady Lions (17-5) with seven points. Junior Cayla Phillips scored the other five. Shyann McElwain grabbed eight rebounds.
HCA had never won a district title nor a regional game prior to this season, so Drummond took the outcome in stride. “In the end, you’ve got a couple of schools in 2A that are just heads and tails above everyone else, and they’re (FAMU) one of them,” Drummond said. “I told the girls at the end of the game, they’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. We went farther than any school in Hernando County, we made it farther than any team in HCA history. That (FAMU) team is just a juggernaut.”
Drummond noted that the game officials went as far as to comment on the impressive fan showing for the Lady Lions despite the long trip and lopsided score. “We appreciate the fans and the support that we’ve had,” Drummond said.
As the winter prep sports season comes to a close, spring sports have gotten their schedules underway. In a softball battle of county rivals with 4-0 records coming into Friday night, home-standing Nature Coast defeated Springstead, 3-1. It was the Lady Sharks’ third win in four days, following a 19-0 stomping of Fivay on Tuesday and a 3-0 triumph over Crystal River on Wednesday.
Offensively, Nature Coast was led through its first four games by senior catcher Chyloe Gonzalez, hitting .500 with two doubles, a triple, a home run, five runs scored and eight runs batted in. Junior pitcher Abbey Primavera, now 4-0, came into the night having struck out 17 batters in 21 innings against two walks. The Lady Sharks had not permitted a run until Friday’s contest.
The Lady Eagles had beaten Groveland-South Lake on Tuesday, 12-8, and Lecanto on Thursday, 13-0. Sophomore catcher Paige Pfent came into the Nature Coast game leading the team with a .562 average, three doubles, four homers, nine runs and 13 RBI. Pitcher Kama Woodall, a junior, fell to 3-1 but had previously not allowed a run, striking out 30 across 21 frames while yielding just six hits and a walk.
Central’s baseball team, fresh off winning a district title in 2015, started off its season this week by besting a pair of county foes. On Tuesday the Bears topped Weeki Wachee, 7-1, then knocked off Nature Coast on Friday, 13-10. Through those two tilts, junior Brandon Merritt hit .444 with seven RBI, while sophomore Trevor Adler posted a .500 average. Junior Jarrod Nesbitt tossed five scoreless inning giving up an unearned run to notch the win against the Hornets.
Springstead also went 2-0, winning over Bishop McLaughlin Catholic on Thursday, 5-4, and Citrus on Friday, 2-0. Senior Stephen Bienstock paced the Eagles at the plate, hitting .571 with a pair of doubles and two RBI. Seniors Noah Siem and Miguel Martinez each threw complete games. The lefty Siem started off his season in a big way, pitching a no-hitter against Citrus, walking one and striking out nine.
Nature Coast’s boys tennis team improved to 5-0 with a 4-3 victory over Crystal River on Thursday. Dakota Willey downed Ben Epstein at number one singles, 6-2, 7-5, and Hunter Schwefringhaus topped Ryan Grant at number three, 6-3, 6-0, to both stay unbeaten. The pairing of Willey and Schwefringhaus also maintained a perfect mark in doubles, beating Epstein and Andrew Allen at number one, 8-1. Additionally, Charles Buckner won at number two singles over Allen, 6-2, 6-1. On Wednesday, the Sharks bounced Weeki Wachee, 6-1, after dropping Hernando on Tuesday, also 6-1.
One winter sport still in its regular season, wrestling, featured Weeki Wachee senior Nathaniel DeJesus going 4-0 at 160 pounds and earning the county’s lone first-place finish at the vaunted Tony Ippolito Memorial Tournament at Brandon High last weekend.
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.