WEEKI WACHEE – The Weeki Wachee Hornets (22-6) fell 58-42 to the Chamberlain Storm (20-6) in the Girls Region 4A Quarterfinal on Thursday night. A close game for much of the contest, the visitors stormed the Green and Black on their home court in the second half to advance.
Hornets Head Coach Billy Hughes gave kudos to Chamberlain after the match, noting that they are “a great team” with a “good staff.” The storm put heavy pressure on the home team, forcing several turnovers in key moments throughout.
Unfortunately for Weeki Wachee, combined with turnovers and getting into foul trouble early, “we were restricted on the things we wanted to do,” Coach Hughes added. “We had to tone it down a little bit, not really be able to play our type of tempo ball and be more aggressive.”
Though they had to alter their game plan due to fouls, they still had a chance late. It was not meant to be, though. So, how did the game reach its deceptively lopsided conclusion?
To open the matchup, Storm Sophomore Ellayna Stephens (20 points) logged two baskets in quick succession following Weeki turnovers. Throughout the rest of the first quarter, though, it was a back-and-forth affair with the visitors leading by those same four points heading into the next frame.
The second period saw the home team get off to a hot start with 10-straight points over the first 2:44 of game time. Four different Hornets contributed to this scoring run including a one trey each from Sophomore Joelys Rodriguez and Senior Rayana Coleman.
Coming out of the intermission, the Storm got into a groove and continued their heroics from the first half. They answered Weeki’s earlier run with a 10-point run of their own. Though it did not doom the home team, going on a scoring drought for 7:17 until late in the third frame helped to scupper the Hornets’ hopes of a regional semifinal berth.
It was not over, though, as Weeki would score seven quick points thanks to four points by Senior Reese Halter and a Coleman corner three that brought them back to within five. This would be the closest they would come to surpassing Chamberlain for the rest of the evening.
Heading into the final frame, Hilliard knocked down 9 of her team’s 13 points over the next 6 minutes of game time to help the Storm build what would prove to be an insurmountable 52-38 advantage with less than 4 minutes remaining.
Despite the unfortunate finish to the schedule, the Green and Black put together an impressive season winning 22 games including 12 out of their last 14. Hornets’ girls’ basketball also earned yet another district title, which gives them back-to-back and five in the last eight years.
“I am very proud of those girls,” Coach Hughes stated. “Every day they come in and work, work, work. Nothing but effort and attitude we preach all day long, and they continue to bring it every day […] Weeki Wachee basketball is here to stay. Every year our goal is always district championship, and we always compete for it.”
Despite graduating five athletes, Coach Hughes and company will also be returning five underclassmen from this year’s squad to lead them into the future. Weeki’s head coach is proud of his seniors’ dedication and looks forward to the younger crew stepping up and becoming leaders next year.
