BROOKSVILLE – Only a few weeks into the girls’ basketball season, Weeki Wachee has had plenty to feel good about so far with its start.
On Thursday night, the Hornets were able to tack on another win while also maintaining their recent edge against county-rival Nature Coast. In the end, Weeki Wachee’s size and interior play proved too much for the host Sharks to overcome, as the Hornets pulled out a 42-31 victory.
“We had some really good, good moments. I was very proud of them,” Weeki Wachee head coach Billy Hughes said. “And then, a lot of times, we had some mental mistakes. It’s still early in the season, so a lot of mistakes that can be corrected, which is a very good thing. I’m very excited to see how much growth we’ve had since the first game of the preseason.”
The Hornets not only improved to 7-2 overall but won against Nature Coast (2-6) for the ninth time in the last ten meetings.
“It’s amazing,” Weeki Wachee senior forward Reese Halter said. “Nature Coast has been our biggest rival since my freshman year. We’ve beaten them every single year, actually.”
Halter played a large role in the team’s success, recording a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds to go along with four steals.
“That’s my first one,” Halter said of the double-double. “Just ball movement and getting up and down the court.
“… We have pretty good team chemistry, I would say. So, just getting that ball movement and moving, we’re a pretty fast-paced team overall. I’d say the faster we are, the better we are.”
Rayana Coleman tallied seven points in the first quarter to help the Hornets build a 17-7 advantage and knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 22-9 with under four minutes to go in the half.
In the third quarter, Halter had a steal and a layup, followed immediately by Karly Pasmore stealing the ball and finding Halter for another basket that made it 32-19 and forced Nature Coast to call a timeout at 4:46 in the third quarter.
A 3-pointer by Pasmore, her second of the game, extended the advantage to 35-19 before Dross hit a short jumper to end a 9-0 run that started the second half.
That was actually the beginning of a 10-0 spurt by the Sharks. Jaida Grier knocked down a shot while she was fouled and completed the 3-point play to make it 35-29 with 4:55 remaining in the fourth quarter.
From there, the Hornets regrouped and pulled away. Joelys Rodriguez scored five of her nine points in the final period to help close it out.
Weeki Wachee finished with a 33-24 edge in rebounding and was generally able to win in the paint throughout the night.
“Every day we work on rebounding, fundamentals, toughness on the glass,” Hughes said. “We try to eliminate opponent’s second opportunities to score points. So that always helps us out, but we like to get some dogs on the boards.”
Grier had 11 points, nine rebounds and three steals for Nature Coast. Dross scored 10 points to go along with three steals, and Madelyn Depetrillo pulled down nine rebounds.
Coleman finished with 10 points for the Hornets. Pasmore had six points, six rebounds and four steals.
“We’re doing pretty well. We’re doing some different things than we have in the past that we’re real excited about,” Hughes said. “The girls are all buying into the new philosophy that we’re trying to approach. They’re all working hard every day. They don’t ever complain, they just put the hard work in.”
