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Holding court

At Delta Woods and Tom Varn parks, hoopsters of all ages lend a big-city vibe to Hernando County.

By VINCENT THOMAS
Published July 2, 2006

Spring Hill is filled with strip malls, subdivisions and transplants. There is not much of anything one would call "urban." But head to Deltona Boulevard on most evenings, pull into Delta Woods Park and start toward the basketball courts. You might not mistake it for New York City's Rucker Park, but it has a city feel to it.

You'll find pre-teens and teenagers; guys still young and frisky and old men setting picks and dumping off bounce passes; dudes with rusty games and prep stars like AB Rodriguez. In a county that lacks ethnic diversity, you'll play against blacks, Puerto Ricans, Italians - they all come to Delta Woods, Hernando's mixing bowl.

About 15 miles east, in sleepy Brooksville, the courts at Tom Varn Park are a main attraction. Guys like Josh Harvey and his friends are court staples. The crowds don't grow as thick as in Spring Hill, and the level of play may not be as high, but it serves a similar purpose for the folks on the east side of the county.

Together, they give Hernando the most thriving pickup basketball community on the North Suncoast.

"I've been down to Pasco and other places up here north (of the cities)," said Lou Sambula after finishing an evening of runs at Delta Woods. "Them other spots ... they play soft over there. You have to come hard when you play here."

Sambula is from "everywhere," New York, specifically. He's lived in Spring Hill for awhile now. He's a stocky dude with a muscular frame and a lot to say. His basketball jones has returned after a brief hiatus. To satisfy that jones, he says, "This is the only place to come."

* * *

Mornings and afternoons are relatively quiet at Tom Varn and Delta Woods. People are at work, and the sun blazes too much. You'll find most kids passing time and enjoying a summer vacation away from the classroom. But right around 6 p.m., the crowds start trickling, sometimes pouring, in, especially at Delta Woods. And they usually won't thin out until most of their neighbors have retired to bed for the night.

Thursday night, Delta Woods had all of that. Niel Bruscino, 17, went head first after a loose ball sailing out of bounds, lost his footing and tumbled into the sand as if his coordination suddenly, fully deserted him.

From the court, someone yelled, "Safe!" Everyone cracked up. Bruscino weathered the mockery with an embarrassed smile.

"I ain't never fell like that before!" said Sambula, enjoying a good laugh. "I mean, I might trip or get knocked down ... but not like that! He just lost all control."

Bruscino got him back a little later when Sambula was breaking down the hierarchy of the two courts.

"You don't ever want to play on that court," said Sambula, pointing at the court to the left. "See, that court is like the CBA. This one here is the NBA."

"Then what are you doing playing on this court, Lou?" asked Bruscino. "You should be over there on the CBA court."

Both guys were on the sideline. Sambula was done for the night, still struggling with his stamina due to his other jones - cigarettes. Bruscino was waiting, with about 20 others, to get on the court. The games are most intense when there's a long wait. If you win, you stay on the court. Lose, and you might not get back on for the rest of the night.

Moments later, a phantom foul was called. Both teams erupt in a shouting match. Soon a voice of reason is heard over the loud voices: "Respect the call, y'all ... respect the call."

That's playground etiquette. There are no referees. You call your own fouls, travels, out of bounds and any other rule violations. On most playground courts, the rules are more lax, and a degree of toughness is expected. So when someone calls a ticky-tack foul, expect some indignation. But those things sort themselves out. Danny Pereria said he has seen some intense arguments, but a full-fledged fist fight is rare.

It's close to 10 p.m. now, and the energy at Delta Woods is wearing out. There are just a couple of guys waiting on the sideline, and the game on the court has spiraled down to basket-hanging, matador defense, brick shots and sloppy passes. Paul Poland, a former semi-pro lineman trying to start a semi-pro team in Hernando, is gone. Jaalam Johnson, who comes Thursday nights because he works evenings all other days, is getting ready to pack it in. But the courts will fill back up tomorrow and the next day and the next day and so on.

Desmond Redding, a guard for Nature Coast Tech, sat out the night's festivities, exhausted from summer league play earlier in the day.

What about tomorrow, though? "Oh, I'm always up here," he said.

Him and, it seems, everyone else.

[Last modified July 1, 2006, 23:56:31]