At 27-1 the Nease Panthers girls basketball team have been the best the area has seen all year. They took down Sandalwood by 16 points, Bartram Trail by 42 points, and along the way defeated state power Tampa Bay Tech. All of these teams have either made deep playoff runs or as in the case for Tech and Bartram, made it all the way to the final four in their respective classes. So after defeating Middleburg last week in the regional semifinals for the fifth time this season, the Panthers found themselves battle tested and just one game away from going to the FHSAA State Semifinals.
All they had to do was defeat Booker T. Washington from Pensacola, however the Panthers have not had great success with opponents from the Florida panhandle in recent years. Last year Nease fell to Choctawhatchee in the regional final. The year before it was Ft Walton Beach that bested the Panthers in the regional finals. Go back three years ago, and it was Chatawhatchee again that knocked off Nease, this time at home, and in front of their home crowd.
Guard Kiya Turner (Texas A&M commit) was just a freshman on the team then, but she remembered that feeling the loss created. Fast forward to Friday night and it would be that same feeling that fueled her first half performance in her team’s regional final game versus Washington.
Turner scored 5 points in the first quarter, leading her team to an early lead in the contest. Nease would score the first six points of the game, including four by guard Tia Robinson and jump out to a 13-7 lead after one quarter. Washington had not experienced a team with the size and athletic ability that Nease displayed, and it surprised the Wildcats early on.
Standouts Janelle Jones (Sr) who averaged 19.8 ppg and Jaila Roberts (Sr) were coming off a revenge win over Pine Forest to which Roberts led all scorers with 16 points. The talented crew were used to driving lanes and creating shots all year with ease using their athleticism. Yet Nease’s quick guards and shot blockers in the paint made it very difficult for the them and the team.
With Washington’s play makers stifled by defensive efforts, Nease’s offense went to even higher heights in the second quarter thanks to Kiya Turner. Turner hit big shot after to big shot including a three pointer to widen the Panther’s lead. Her 10 points in the quarter coupled with the shot blocking of Camille Hobby(Sr, North Carolina St commit) and rebounding of Peyton Carter (Sr, Davidson commit) sent the home team into halftime leading 29-17.
In the second half it was Camille Hobby’s turn. The 6’3 center came out of halftime scoring the first two baskets of the third quarter. She set the tone for the team with six points. Carter also began to find easy shots as the Washington defense attempted to double Hobby. She would score 4 points in the third quarter.
Turner continued her hot hand hitting her second three pointer of the game, as the low post players kicked it out to their wings for shots that hit nothing but net. Not settling on their twelve point halftime lead, Nease ballooned the lead to twenty-two points by the end of the third quarter. Washington’s head coach Jade Brown looked on in disgust and disbelief as nothing she dialed up seemed to work against the Nease well oiled green machine.
By the fourth, the outcome was a foregone conclusion as Camille Hobby closed out the game. She scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, from the post, on the offensive boards and even from the perimeter. She would finish with 21 points in the game, Kiya Turner led all scorers with 23 points as their dynamic performances led Nease over Washington 65-44.
Usually displaying a stoic demeanor, Coach Sherri Anthony was very emotional after the game. The proverbial monkey had been lifted off her back after three straight regional final losses. With the victory, Nease moves on to face Ft. Myers in the Final 4 on Friday March 1st in Lakeland Florida. Ft. Myers (15-9) defeated Charlotte 50-37 to advance to the State Semifinals.
