With Hernando Christian’s 42-32 loss to Naples First Baptist Academy in the Class 2A, Region 2 final, prep girls basketball in Hernando County concludes another great season in which teams had to persevere through a pandemic embroiled campaign. Hernando Christian proved that last season wasn’t a fluke. HCA was once again a force and was able to notch a district championship and nearly clinched a spot at states. Nature Coast wasn’t too far behind but fell in the district tournament play. Heading back over to Brooksville, Hernando continued its strong district play against The Villages in the postseason and narrowly lost. Both Hernando and Weeki Wachee made strides this season and should be able to contend in the near future. We go team by team and look back on the 2020-2021 campaign.
Hernando Christian (15-1): Nearly reaching the Class 2A state semifinals is nothing to look away from. This Lions team was talented and reached this point last season before losing to Keswick Christian. Though it was a closer result this time around for HCA, just missing states stings a little bit.
Hernando (13-9): The Leopards were the second-best team in Hernando County behind Hernando Christian, as they notched wins over both Nature Coast and Springstead during the regular season. Hernando continued to improve as the season went on and Sy Crowley is the player to watch for the Leopards in the 2021-2022 campaign.
Nature Coast (10-11): The Sharks were arguably the third best girls basketball team in Hernando County and for good reason, as they reached the double-digit win column and had one of the top scorers in Heaven Lee. Though the Sharks ended up losing in the district tournament 48-41 to Holiday Anclote, Nature Coast was competitive with most everyone on their schedule.
Springstead (14-11): Toe to toe with Nature Coast was rival Springstead, who notched the second-highest win total of 14 for a Hernando County team. The Eagles split their regular-season meetings against the Sharks and reached the second rebound of their district tournament before bowing out in a 50-19 loss to Zephyrhills. Keep an eye on the Eagles for next season.
Weeki Wachee (7-14): After a promising 3-2 start to the season, the Hornets weren’t able to keep up with early momentum and finished 7-14. Weeki Wachee has some key pieces returning next season and head coach Billy Hughes should have the program back above the .500 mark.
Central (1-15): The one win on the season for the Bears was a 37-32 victory over Inverness Citrus. Other than that, Central is still in a rebuilding mode and trying to get back to being competitive weekly. They are on the right track.
Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
