The Springstead Eagles (8-6) handily defeated the Mitchell Mustangs (7-9) by a 66-52 margin on day three of the Greg O’Connell Shootout. The Red, White, and Blue never trailed and took third place in their holiday tournament behind Archbishop McCarthy and University High Schools. Though the matchup did get heated at times, the home team rarely led by less than 10 the entirety of the second half. Springstead Head Coach Matt McGarry’s squad rode a strong start and layered more on late to emerge victorious.
“We definitely rode the blitz we had in the first quarter,” Coach McGarry said. “That is for sure. We came out firing on all cylinders, really engaged, really executing our stuff and we were able to ride out what was an outstanding first quarter.”
The home team jumped out to a sizable advantage early, though the Mustangs would battle back to keep the game relatively close. Senior G Austin Nicholson scored a flurry of baskets including the game’s opening points enroute to an 18-5 lead for the Eagles. After the game, each team was allowed to select their all-tournament player and Nicholson received the award for his efforts on Friday and throughout the holiday competition.
“Each team gets an all-tournament selection, it is a coach’s pick, and there is no doubt,”
said Coach McGarry. “We talked about it yesterday how Austin’s our everything So, there was no doubt he was going to be the best player and an all-conference nod today, no doubt.”
After the visitors from New Port Richey clawed back to an 18-16 deficit early in the second period, Springstead buckled down and began to put distance between them from that point on. While a few Eagles would log a basket in the quarter, Junior G Ryan Sayre wowed by knocking down a trio of shots from downtown in 3:49 of game time. Thanks to this burst, the home team had extended their lead back to 11 at halftime. That status quo would essentially hold until the final frame when a technical foul was called on the Mustangs with about five minutes remaining in regulation.
“Well, it got physical […]” Coach McGarry said. “These guys know each other and sometimes it can get a little testy. That little skirmish got pretty physical, but it is a competitive game. I do not look down on anybody on that side because of what happened. Those things happen in sports. I even tried to rescind the coach’s technical because I saw what he saw, but at the end of the day, that is a part of the game and physicality will happen and sometimes goes over the top, but luckily nothing crazy happened.”
The play drew an uproar from the modest crowd. During the play, it appeared that Eagles’ Senior C Andrew Danchise fell to the floor and Senior G Ben Unger fell almost immediately after. There were questions around the court about whether Danchise held Unger’s leg and if there was pushing by Mitchell. The officials ultimately ruled the play a technical foul by the Mustangs and Senior G Niko Cordello stepped up to the line to attempt a quartet of free throws. He sunk all four at a critical moment. His head coach talked about how important that moment was and the trust that he had in the senior.
“That was huge because that four-point margin, at that point in the game, was everything we needed to get a couple stops and ride it out,” the Springstead coach said. “He shot the ball well tonight. There was no question he was going to be the guy I had shooting those free throws and it paid off for us tonight.”
The other in-county school playing in a tournament this week was Hernando. The Leopards fell in the first two rounds and managed a win over Pinellas Park in Round 3 of the Dunedin New Years Tournament while Springstead nabbed bronze at their tournament on Friday. Looking ahead, the Mustangs and Eagles will resume their usual regular season schedules next week. Mitchell will host the East Lake Eagles next week on Friday. The Eagles will hope to maintain their momentum heading into the back half of their schedule when they play the Crystal River Pirates at home on Wednesday.
