Hornets Sting Leopards to Take Third Win in Five Days

On Friday night, the Weeki Wachee Hornets (3-1) hosted the Hernando Leopards (1-2) for their fourth match in five days. The Green and Black jumped out to a commanding lead early on, and they continued to extend their advantage throughout until the score read 39-20.

Hornets Head Coach Billy Hughes was “real proud of the effort” his squad showed against their cross-county rivals. The coaching staff emphasized effort and attitude because those are “two things that you can control,” he added.

Coach Hughes was especially proud of how they attacked their fourth matchup in the first week of the season. The staff scheduled a tough stretch early in the year and the returns have been positive thus far.

His team’s effort extended to the defense especially. Throughout Friday’s matchup on the hardwood, they continued to force turnovers and limited Hernando to only 7 field goals throughout the night.

“Defensively, we always practice every single day to have that mentality every day and all-in effort,” Coach Hughes continued. “We before me. I’m proud of the effort.”

Once the match tipped off, it would take nearly three minutes before the Hornets would log their first score on a Joelys Rodriguez free throw. The sophomore followed that up with a midrange jumper seconds later.

Moments later Weeki would knock down a three of their own before immediately following it up with another courtesy of Sophomore Karly Passmore and Senior Rayana Coleman respectively. Rodriguez would tack on another long two late in the opening frame.

The Green and Black would continue to press their advantage into the second period. Rodriguez logged two more to bring her first half total to nine while the game was still potentially in doubt. The second of these scores was on a fast break following a steal by Senior Reese Halter on one of their many defensive effort plays to force turnovers.

Four other Hornets would get in on the scoring action in the second stanza as they raced out to a 21-10 lead at the intermission. The final 16 minutes would be much of the same with Weeki Wachee’s stingy defense holding the Leopards to 10 points in each half.

“It really just was a true team effort,” said Coach Hughes. The head coach felt that it was not one particular player but the team as a whole that came together to come out on the other end of a four-game gauntlet with a winning record.

“They always come in ready to work and play hard,” he continued. “Everyone picks each other up. They’re really a tight bunch of ten girls on the varsity team, and we’re like a true sisterhood and battle and fight for each other.”

Looking ahead at their future slate of games, the Purple and Gold will look to bounce back against the Crystal River Pirates on December 6. Coach Hughes and company will look to maintain momentum against the Classical Prep Lions on December 2. The Hornets’ coach will continue to “work on everything” with his squad through the district tournament in February.