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PHUHS Girls Open Hoops Season With Win

Palm Harbor 58, Tarpon Springs 46

Eric Horchy/SUNCOAST NEWS

Palm Harbor University point guard Madison McNary cuts through the Tarpon Springs defense.

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By Eric Horchy | The Suncoast News

Published: November 13, 2007

PALM HARBOR, Fla. - PALM HARBOR, Fla. - After weeks of practice and exhibition Tip-off Classics, the girls high school basketball regular season officially got underway Monday night across the Suncoast area.

Palm Harbor University hosted Tarpon Springs High last night for an early showdown between two Class 5A, District 9 foes.

The Hurricanes enter the season as the only North County team having reached last year's playoff bracket when they finished at 18-9, good enough for second in the district behind Clearwater.

Monday's 58-46 PHU win proved to be tighter – and perhaps more physical – than expected with Tarpon's youth and lack of two starters in the lineup.

Head Coach James Margarella noted that Jordan Lawler – his senior starting center – as well as his starting point guard were absent for the opener.

Though Palm Harbor (1-0, 1-0) led virtually the entire game, Sponger guard Alli Corbett (18 pts.) and forward Nikki Crafton (15 pts.) did their best to keep the game from getting out of control.

Down six at halftime, Tarpon (0-1, 0-1) withstood an early second half charge PHU point guard-sparkplug Madison McNary mounted and were able to fight back to within two points, 36-34.

McNary's slashing drives and quick dishes down low to forward Nikita Legan – a connection made time and time again Monday – ended up being too much for the shorthanded Spongers to overcome.

Legan – a Clearwater High transfer – ended the night with a game-high 19 points and teammate Alysha Lane added 18 of her own.

"If I had my center and point guard it might have been a different story," Margarella said after the game.

As well as Corbett – a fiery player herself – did last night taking over the reigns of the offense at point guard, Margarella said that he would have preferred her down low at small forward against a smaller PHUHS squad.

The Tarpon coach did see positives to be taken away from the opener.

"We got blown out of both games (against PHUHS) last year," he said. "We just came here to prove Tarpon Springs is on the rise.

This program has been down for many, many years and I think we're heading in the right direction."

For Palm Harbor, the season started with a win and now first year head coach Darian Dublin looks to grow and gel from there.

"It's the first game of the year," he said. "There are just some things we have to iron out."

Dublin mentioned a new, aggressive style of defense he is implementing that is still being perfected. That tight coverage was visible Monday with PHU defenders banging and scraping up and down the court.

With the day off today, Palm Harbor plays three consecutive games this week beginning with Countryside High, then a home-away series against Dunedin.

Tarpon Springs gets rolling again tonight when they host a strong Boca Ciega team. The Spongers travel to East Lake to finish out their week Thursday evening.

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