SPRING HILL- If there’s one team that’s picked up where they left off from last year, it’s the Springstead Eagles’ boys basketball team.
They say it’s not a sprint, but more of a marathon throughout the course of a regular season, and the Eagles have taken the best of both worlds with that analogy. Springstead is off to a hot start with a record of 9-1 to begin the 2021-2022 campaign and the Eagles have already started to compile some impressive victories to date, despite a 2 point loss to Wildwood on Wednesday (53-51).
Wins over Central, Crystal River, Leesburg, and Nature Coast to kick things off have been revitalizing to a Springstead team that ended their season in the district tournament round last year and was for all intents and purposes a team with playoff aspirations. There’s no doubt that this Springstead team is playing every game with a chip on their shoulder knowing that the previous bunch just missed out on qualifying for the postseason.
Springstead head coach Matt McGarry has assembled one of the better teams out of Hernando County in recent memory and despite graduating some key players from last year, the Eagles have just as much talent and more. Leading the way in scoring this season is center Ronnie Roberts, who is averaging 14 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest.
Robert’s isn’t the only player on the team averaging in the double-digit points per game category, as fellow teammates Gavin Korth-Loder (11.4 points per game) and Saquan Carswell (10.4 points per game) have also chipped in the scoring. As a team, the Eagles are averaging 64.7 points per game and the offensive end has been exciting for anyone to watch.
Springstead currently plays in a 7-team district in Class 5A, District 5 including Ocala Vanguard, Leesburg, Lake Weir, Belleview, Citrus, and Lecanto. The Eagles are atop of the district with the 9-1 record but must continue their winning ways to maintain that position as the season continues onwards. A matchup to mark down on the calendar to watch is an away contest at always good Berkeley Prep on January 4th and the rematch with Nature Coast on January 11th.
Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
