Sharks attain objective

By EMILY NIPPS
Published February 13, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - Last year, Nature Coast coach Jason Montgomery talked openly about the team's three expectations for the 2004-05 season: win 20 games, crack the top 10 in the Class 3A rankings and win a District 6 championship.

"People thought we were crazy," Montgomery said. "They thought we were arrogant and brash."

On Saturday night, the final - and perhaps easiest - task was completed. The Sharks defeated Pasco 46-18 to win the district title, a first for the 2-year-old school.

The Sharks (25-2) want more, of course. Montgomery thinks they can go all the way. Getting there, though, should be more of a challenge than what the Sharks faced against the Pirates.

Pasco (17-8) opened the game with an emphatic Krystal Jenkins 3-pointer, starting the Pirates off with a burst before Nature Coast's Cara Cagan answered with a 3.

"It was all downhill from there," Pasco coach Tony Vasquez said.

Cagan went on to score on almost every attempt from the outside, making a total of five 3-pointers for the night. It was one of the senior guard's best performances all season as she led with 19 points and seven rebounds.

The Pirates struggled in just about every category. They couldn't generate enough offense to score more than six per quarter and missed several open passes. While Pasco's defense slightly stifled Nature Coast's post players, the Pirates couldn't seem to stop the guards.

"We got out-pushed, out-hustled, out-rebounded and outscored," Vasquez said. "I don't want to take anything away from Nature Coast. They're well-coached and they wanted it more than we did."

Pasco was led by Kayla Hall, who scored seven. Nature Coast's Mallory Freeman scored nine and had five rebounds and point guard Olivia Murray scored eight.

[Last modified February 13, 2005, 01:08:17]