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Preps

Pirates get back on track against Panthers

LECANTO -- Coming off consecutive losses, Crystal River would not be happy with anything other than a victory Friday night. The Pirates got it in a 34-25 win at Lecanto.

"We weren't in a very good mood tonight," Crystal River coach Brent Hall said. "We played our style of basketball and really fought our hearts out from the first horn to the last one."

Senior guard Casandra Vega led the Pirates with 13 points, seven rebounds and five steals.

Crystal River (11-8) jumped out to an early lead and held a 21-13 advantage at halftime despite foul trouble. By the end of the third quarter, four Pirates had picked up their fourth fouls.

Lecanto's Caroline Rodriguez cut the lead to 27-22 with a layup early in the fourth, but Crystal River countered with baskets by Setera Lockley and Ashley Bullion. The Panthers were 3 of 7 from the free-throw line in the final quarter and could not buy a bucket the rest of the way.

In addition to her five points, Lockley had four steals and four rebounds.

"Setera plays hard every night, she's grown up so much this season," Hall said. "It's nice to be able to put the ball in her hands late in the game."

Kellie McKinley pulled down seven rebounds and Amber Clark had three steals for the Pirates.

Lecanto coach Ron Allan said he had never seen his team shoot free throws as poorly as it did Friday. The Panthers were 13 of 27. "If we would have shot free throws at our normal pace, which is about 55 to 57 percent, it's a different ballgame," Allan said. "Make no mistake, (Crystal River) played hard. Their defense was excellent, and offensively we played like we were in cement Nikes."

Lecanto, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, is 12-9.

The Panthers got nine points from Rodriguez, who hit three of her team's five field goals.

"She was trying to step up but one person can't carry us," Allan said. "We need to score 35 or 38 and she can't do that."

Allan said his Panthers were hurrying shots because of the Pirates' defense.

"We couldn't get anything to fall," he said.

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