Panthers rally, hang on, win in OT

Lecanto survives an early deficit, scare at end of regulation to top St. Augustine.

By KELLIE DIXON
Published February 16, 2007

LECANTO - For a moment there was a flicker of fear. But it was followed by almost 30 minutes of resolve, and Lecanto defeated St. Augustine 80-77 in overtime on Thursday.

Four Lecanto players scored in double figures, led by Nick Cortes' 20 points. The Panthers 24-3 host Orlando Bishop Moore at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

But first, Lecanto had to bounce back from a deficit. The Yellow Jackets (18-9) went on an early 10-0 run that left Lecanto on its heels.

"When they went on their run, you looked at our guys and you saw a lot of fear in their eyes," Lecanto coach Chris Nichols said. "It became playing not to lose instead of playing to win."

The Panthers regrouped and went on a 7-0 run late in the first half and narrowed St. Augustine's lead to seven.

Lecanto kept chipping away at St. Augustine and tied it with less than four minutes to play.

With less than 20 seconds to go and a three-point lead, it looked like Lecanto had the game won, especially after Kouvaris Davis threw up an off-balanced 3-pointer.

But Rashard Hall flung up another desperation attempt that went in at the buzzer. Davis finished with a game-high 28 points.

"My heart sunk," Jared Brantley said. "But the thing was we had to play four more minutes and I knew we were going to win those four minutes. ...We played with too much heart and too much passion."

Lecanto made the most of its chances in overtime, going 6-of-10 from the foul line. Victor Cortes sank one to make it a three-point game with less than two seconds left.

St. Augustine inbounded the ball and threw up a last desperation shot.

"I held my breath and it didn't go in," Nichols said. "Thank God."

Kellie Dixon can be reached at kdixon@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1430.

[Last modified February 15, 2007, 23:07:00]