The Springstead Eagles (7-1) welcomed the cross-county Nature Coast Sharks (2-5) to Greg O’Connell Court on Tuesday night. It was not a particularly warm welcome for the Columbia Blue and Black, however, as the home team took care of business and then some in a 50-18 domination at the Eagles Nest.
After a tight first quarter, Coach Zach Anspach’s Eagles created some separation in the second quarter before blowing the game wide open in the second half. That was thanks in large part to a suffocating defense that allowed only two baskets following the intermission.
“The first half, I think we were kind of slow coming out to it,” said Coach Anspach. “Rivalry game, everybody getting after it, but we talked to players at halftime, and we said, ‘hey guys, we got to be us.’ We can’t beat ourselves. One of the themes with that was they executed. We were moving the ball around, spreading the points, playing defense. There was energy and stuff.”
In addition to energy, the home team won many of the 50-50 balls that evening. Combine that with a couple of stretches with “seven-eight rebounds on a single possession,” and you have a crew that is absconding with points. “I mean that’s just heart even when stuff’s not going right,” Anspach added.
After allowing a trio of baskets early, the Eagles held a slim 7-6 lead. Freshman Ariana Willoughby (8 points) then extended the home team’s lead to four with a trey with 39 seconds remaining in the first.
From here on out, it was almost all Springstead. The home team would outscore the Sharks 18-8 in the second frame thanks to a trio of field goals by Sophomore Brooke Smith (8 points). Nature Coast’s Gabby Dross would log five of her nine total points in this period, but it would not be enough against the Eagles.
“We’re very balanced, and that one thing we try to emphasize is like, hey, we might not have someone averaging 20-plus a game,” Coach Anspach said. “We’re going to have 12, 15, 9, and 6. Everybody’s chipping in. We have a deep bench. I think many of our bench players could be starters on other teams.”
His squad sure looked like it on Tuesday. As the second half wore on, the Eagles rarely allowed the Sharks a clean shot leading to a mere 4 points being scored by the visitors throughout the entire final 16 minutes of game time.
Despite a young team with only a single senior (Emily Brown) and a schedule that heavily features away matchups, the Eagles have currently suffered only one loss to open the season. Anspach’s crew is enjoying a seven-game winning streak as they work towards their goals of winning a district title and making it to the state playoffs.
“Overall, I’m pretty pleased,” he said. “The sky’s the limit for the group with how young we are. They are only getting better every game. Any time you beat a rival it doesn’t matter. That’s big-time.”
Tuesday’s victory marked Coach Anspach’s 99th win as head coach of the Red, White, and Blue. The home team will work to earn win number 100 when they host the Central Bears on Friday.
“This group, they played hard, they care about each other, and it shows out there on the court,” the Eagles’ coach said. “[…] We’re going to be around for a while here […] We have a good team. We have to finish because we’re the hunted now.”
