Wiregrass Ranch still accomplishes program firsts
By Kyle LoJacono
The Nature Coast boys basketball team had been waiting for a rematch with Wiregrass Ranch since the Bulls won the Class 4A-District 8 championship two weeks ago on the Sharks home court.
Nature Coast (29-3) avenged that loss Feb. 22 at Wiregrass Ranch (22-8) to take the 4A regional semifinals contest 70-56.
“I knew that was going to happen,” said Wiregrass Ranch coach Jeremy Calzone. “They were mad. We celebrated on their home court a couple weeks ago and unfortunately we didn’t respond.”
The Sharks jumped out to an 11-point lead to start the game and did not let it get closer than seven all night.
“Them beating us on our home floor in the district championship, it struck a cord for us,” said Nature Coast coach David Pisarcik. “We knew how important this game was if we saw them again. We were focused all week. Bringing the intensity in practice and we brought that out to the game tonight. We were ready to go.”
“All week we were ready to play,” Pisarcik continued. “I mean we wanted to play yesterday. When they got off the bus and onto the floor, they were ready. You could see the aggressiveness, the intensity coming out. We had a great game plan to come out and neutralize their players and the kids executed.”
The Bulls came up two games shy of the final four, but they did things never before done in program history this year. They won the first district championship and the first regional tournament game in the quarterfinals Feb. 17 by beating cross-town rival Wesley Chapel.
Wiregrass Ranch, which has seven seniors on the roster, also beat Nature Coast for the first time for the program in that district title game, but could not make it two in a row.
“The kids are unbelievable,” Calzone said. “Those seven kids, I’ll never forget them. I told them in 20 years, 30 years I’ll tell my grandkids about these players. Not only are they good basketball players, they’re great kids. Great in the classroom, great around the community here. They don’t get into trouble and I don’t have to worry about bad grades.”
Wiregrass Ranch used a high-tempo offense this year to make up for lack of size, but it ran into a big obstacle in Sharks 6-foot-9 senior center Tyler Bergantino, who is three inches taller than any of the Bulls.
Bergantino put up 20 points, and his size made it difficult for Wiregrass Ranch 6-foot-6 senior center Michael Chase to work the inside, forcing the squad to take more outside shots.
“We didn’t want to do that,” Calzone said of shooting so many outside shots. “I think they did a better job on Michael (Chase) tonight. We had a hard time getting it into him. …We’ve told them all year if you’re open, shoot. I’m not going to tell them to stop shooting. It’s not my style.”
The Bulls had a small victory when they forced Bergantino to the bench in the second quarter.
“We got three fouls on Bergantino,” Calzone said. “We felt pretty good about it and as soon as he came out of the game, I think we relaxed for a second and that hurt us. Instead of pushing forward we said he’s not in the game. Now we can relax.”
Nature Coast went on a 6-2 run with their center on the bench to push the lead to 13 near the end of the second quarter.
“That little stretch in the second quarter hurt us,” Calzone said. “If we had limited that, we could have gotten it down to five or six at halftime. I was a little upset about that, but the game was won and lost in the first five minutes.”
The Sharks took a 13-2 lead to start the game. Senior guard Antwan Prince, who normally starts and averages 11.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, had to sit out the first quarter for missing a practice.
“He decided to miss a practice without calling somebody,” Calzone said. “I live by my rules. Unfortunately it happened in a regional semifinal game. Like I told the kids, I’ll take the blame if you want, but I’m going to stay by my rules no matter what the game is. That’s just who I am.”
The Bulls seemed to be lacking the spark that Prince usually adds.
“He’s an energy guy for us,” Calzone said.
Chase finished with a team-high 16 points in the semifinals, followed by sophomore Rico Kerney’s 14. Senior and team captain Tanner Carey put up 11 and senior Kingsley Boateng had seven.
Senior James Tringali had a team-high 14 assists. Kerney led the Bulls with nine rebounds, while Carey pulled down eight.
