BROOKSVILLE – On Friday, the Springstead Eagles (17-5) blasted the Nature Coast Tech Sharks (7-10) by a score of 60-17 at the Shark Tank. The Red, White, and Blue’s 43-point domination of their cross-county foe was aided by a record-breaking number of baskets from beyond the arc.
Before Friday’s matchup, Springstead’s total for threes made in a game rested at 9. Following their barrage of buckets, the Eagles now have a new benchmark for treys in girls’ basketball at 10.
The visitors would start the game off by jumping out to a huge early lead thanks to a pair of treys from Ariana Willoughby (14 points, 4 threes) in the opening frame. Before the Sharks knew it, they were trailing 14-2 just over 4 minutes into the contest.
The rest of the quarter would see the home team fighting to keep the game relatively close with a corner three from Sophomore Leilani White as time expired in the first. Even then, the score still stood at 22-9.
The next frame would see Springstead continue to build upon their lead scoring the first 7 points enroute to a 36-14 advantage at the half. Eagles Coach Zach Anspach’s crew would hold Nature Coast to just five points in the second stanza, and their lead would only balloon further.
In the penultimate period, Senior Emily Brown led the way with two treys for the Red, White, and Blue. They would ultimately outscore the Sharks 16-3 in the third before surrendering 0 points in the final frame.
“This group, they work hard,” said Coach Anspach. “One of the things we do this point of the year is we are always just getting shots in. Our offense, the girls know the plays. We kind of know the game plan this late in the year. So, in practice, they know games come down to just making shots.”
Coach Anspach’s crew distributes the ball and the points effectively. As a result, the Eagles will rarely have any single player going off for eye-catching numbers in any given game.
“We are a balanced team,” Coach Anspach noted. “They share the ball. They care about each other. Anytime we are going to come play a rival in their place, it is never easy […] This group really cares about each other. It’s fun. They are fun to coach.”
That is not to say no one stands out, though. In addition to Willoughby, Brown (12 points) made a huge impact by knocking down four of her team’s 10 scores from downtown, too.
Helping the Eagles break the record for threes in her final game against Nature Coast is a special memory she can carry with her for the rest of her life. “That is what high school basketball is about – those special memories,” Coach Anspach said.
