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Citrus keeps its cool, beats Lecanto's press

Hurricanes guard Jamaal Galloway leads his team to a 59-42 win with 23 points.

By KEITH NIEBUHR, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 19, 2002

LECANTO -- In preparation for its game with Lecanto, Citrus practiced against the junior varsity, which simulated the Panthers' vaunted fullcourt pressure defense.

The Hurricanes struggled.

A good sign for Lecanto? Not exactly.

When it counted Friday, the Hurricanes were calm and cool against the Panthers' press, which forced few turnovers and never quite managed to take Citrus out of its offense.

The result was a 59-42 win that gave the Hurricanes sole possession of first place in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.

"We just had to slow down and play our game," said Citrus guard Jamaal Galloway, who hit four 3-pointers and led all players with 23 points. "We took our time with it. We knew we had to come in here and slow it down."

Lecanto's press never clicked and neither did its offense. Lecanto (10-5, 5-1) made 13 of 61 field goals (two of 21 from 3-point range), and was outrebounded 43-33. Because Citrus (14-3, 4-0) placed its defensive emphasis on stopping Lecanto's inside game, the Panthers were given numerous outside shots, but they couldn't convert.

"Those shots were open to take," Lecanto coach Chris Nichols said. "We needed to take them and make them to stay in the game."

At the half, it looked as if the game could go either way.

The teams traded the lead 10 times before a basket by Mitch Holderness gave the Hurricanes a 22-21 edge with 2 minutes, 20 seconds left. As time ran down in the first half, Citrus guard Joel Miller came up short on a 3-pointer, but Mike Bass caught the ball in midair and flung a no-look layup into the basket at the buzzer for a 24-21 lead.

In the second half, Galloway found his shot. He scored five points in the third quarter as Citrus led 37-28 with eight minutes to play, then added 10 fourth-quarter points to keep Lecanto at bay.

Miller added 15.

Kyle Hamilton led Lecanto with 13 points.

"In the second half, we came out and hit the shots we didn't hit early in the game," Citrus coach Jimmy Thomas said. "Jamaal and Joel hit the baskets and took it to the basket and got fouled."

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