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Mini-streak helps Leopards' district preparations

By VINCENT THOMAS, DAVID MURPHY
Published January 12, 2006

Standing in a hallway outside the Hernando High gymnasium earlier this week, Brandon Vanderford tried to recall the last time the Leopards had won three straight games.

After thinking a few moments, the senior forward finally came up with a conclusion.

"I don't know," he said. "Not this year."

That changed Tuesday night, as Hernando used a strong second half to beat Zephyrhills 54-42 and gain more momentum heading into Wednesday night's pivotal conference and district showdown against Springstead (for coverage of the game, see page 8C).

Entering Wednesday's game, the Leopards were 5-4 in Class 4A, District 8; Springstead was 6-3. With wins over Hudson, Pasco, South Sumter and Zephyrhills (twice) under its belt, and with one of their losses coming at the last second to Nature Coast, the Leopards were feeling pretty good about themselves while preparing for the Eagles.

Though Pasco and Gulf have a firm grasp on the top two seeds, everything after them is unsettled. With Nature Coast losing to Pasco by just five points on Tuesday, and with Springstead playing its best basketball in recent years, the 4A-8 stretch run is shaping up to be an interesting one.

CLOSE CALL: Pasco entered Tuesday's game at Nature Coast having lost just one district game. Hernando beat the Pirates on Friday when Pasco was without N.C. State-bound Darrell Davis. Nature Coast coach Travis Priddy had worried they were going to face an especially determined Pasco squad hoping to put the Hernando loss behind them.

They did, but the Sharks still came close to handing Pasco its second defeat in a row, falling 53-49.

Priddy said the Sharks threw a variety of defenses at Davis to hold him to 12 points, his lowest district effort of the season. On the other end, Josh Ortiz continued his string of stellar efforts with 19 points, outplaying Davis. Up next, Nature Coast travels to Gulf on Friday.

WASHINGTON RETURNS: The first time the Hernando girls squared off against Zephyrhills this season, Leopards' all-county forward Nikita Washington watched from the bench as she served a punishment for showing up late to practice.

Though she helped make up for it two nights ago, scoring 24 in a 58-41 win over Zephyrhills, Hernando coach Walt Cermak said he is still trying to emphasize the importance of attending practice.

Four players missed the first practice after winter break, and Washington and fellow forward Debra Williams were kept on the bench for the Leopards' loss to Central last week because of their absences.

"You put yourself in a position where you don't have the players you are expecting," Cermak said. "All I can hope is there are some lessons learned that you take into life that aren't necessarily related to basketball. Life teaches us that there are penalties for decisions that you make."

DE-FENSE!: Though Cermak has expressed frustration with his team's offensive production, he does point to one statistic to show the Leopards' improvement. Hernando is giving up an average of 43.8 points per game, which is down from 52.5 last year.

[Last modified January 12, 2006, 01:23:25]