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Boys Basketball: Hudson Holds On By Skin Of Its Fangs

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By EDDIE DANIELS

edaniels@tampatrib.com

Published: January 15, 2009

HUDSON - Hours before Hudson's home game against Nature Coast Tuesday night, Cobras coach Jason Vetter talked about his team and its focus.

At the conclusion of the contest, that word made its way back into Vetter's vernacular.

Hudson held off Nature Coast, 61-55, after building a 30-18 halftime advantage. The victory puts a three-game buffer between Hudson, second in the Class 4A-District 8 standings behind Springstead, and Nature Coast, which is third. Hudson will face Springstead one more time in the regular season when they host the Eagles Jan. 22.

"They've done it all year, so I think they're used to it. I'm not," Vetter said with a nervous smile. "I'm panicking, they're not. They're like, 'OK, we're fine Coach.' It's just one of those things that's going to bite them one of these days if they're not careful.

"I'm proud of them, they're winning, we have a great district record. This was a big win for us tonight… but at the same time we keep letting teams hang around."

Nothing in the first 16 minutes of the game indicated Nature Coast (12-5, 6-4 4A-8) would have a chance late in the game. The Sharks managed just one field goal and two free throws in the first half. The first points came on a Mike Adams bucket 47-seconds into the game. It took nearly five minutes for Tyler Bergantino to drain his two foul shots.

Hudson (10-6, 9-1 4A-8) built a 14-4 advantage in the first period and it was Jarrod Branco's initial basket, which appeared to set the tone for the Cobras.

With the game tied, 2-2, Branco drove in from the left side of the basket, penetrating the Sharks defense. He jumped, rotating the ball from his left to right, flinging it up in a successful reverse layup. Teammates James Beaudry, Skylor Pryor and Chris Russo each scored, forcing Nature Coast into a timeout.

Out of that break, quick scores by Branco and Josh Santos induced a second Sharks timeout.

"At the beginning, I think they came out and jumped on us," Nature Coast coach David Pisarcik said. "It was a big game within the district. It was for second and third seed. They have a special player in Jarrod Branco. Everything we tried to do, he'd make a pass or make the bucket. There was nothing we could do to stop him. We just tried to contain him."

Branco led all scorers with 23 points. Teammate Stephen Brom chipped in 10 points, while Russo ended with eight.

Although the Nature Coast shot selection wasn't the best at times, the Sharks began to chip away at the Cobras lead. With 23 seconds remaining, a Blake Lowman 3-pointer cut the Hudson lead, 58-50. But was too little, too late.

Adams and Mike Fields led Nature Coast with 10 points each. Lowman and Meier finished with nine points.

"We've done great, but we can do better," Branco said. "We're at about 90 percent of what we can do. Once we get everybody playing on the same page and everybody playing with that intensity for four quarters straight, we can play with anybody."

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214.

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