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© St. Petersburg Times, published December 12, 2002
All along, Lecanto coach Chris Nichols has been proud of his squad's effort in practice.
Now, he has something else to be pleased with.
Behind four players in double figures, the Panthers easily defeated visiting Hernando 70-53 on Wednesday for their first win of the season. Junior guard Jerry Tipton led Lecanto (1-2) with a career-high 14 points.
Behind a 20-point second quarter, Lecanto built a 36-18 halftime lead. Hernando (1-2) opened the third with an 8-0 run, but a Tipton 3-pointer helped the Panthers regain momentum.
Drew Zimbro (12 points, 10 rebounds), Ryan Alderman (11 points) and Landon Baize (10 points, 6 assists) also were major contributors for Lecanto. Nate Howell and Chris Korbus led Hernando with 14 points each.
CITRUS 58, SOUTH SUMTER 41: At Bushnell, the Hurricanes (3-0) remained perfect with another convincing win. Guards Joel Miller (21 points) and Jamaal Galloway (18) led Citrus, which took command with a 24-point second quarter.
"I thought we played really well in the first half, especially in the second quarter," Citrus coach Jimmy Thomas said. "We moved the ball well. It was just good team play."
Citrus has outscored its first three foes by an average of 68-41.
"We're playing pretty good ball, but we're not where we need to be," Thomas said. "We've still got another level to get to and have to keep working."