The holiday tournaments aren’t done yet–but they’re wrapping up with a quickness as we get ready to hit the grind of district season for hoops. We’ve seen a bunch of ball in the last two weeks and we were at tournaments last week in Ocala and Brooksville. Here now are a few thoughts regarding the teams that were making things happen in those tournaments plus a few thoughts on what lies ahead in the short term as the action on the hardwood starts to heat up.
What happened at the sites we were at?
Lakeland won the Nature Coast Christmas Tournament going 5-0 over the holiday break after a tough loss–and they’re only one at that–to Auburndale just before their tournament schedule began. The Dreadnaughts defeated Alonso, Medina and Shaker Heights at the Sharks’ tournament and won the title game coming back from a double-digit deficit to the four-time defending Cleveland City Champions–Shaker Heights. Gaither defeated Wiregrass Ranch in the secondary bracket finals of the same tournament with a three-guard attack and just seven guys in-total on the roster–an approach that works when you have the guards to do it such as the Cowboys. Lakewood Ranch and Winter Haven both competed in the Kingdom of the Sun up in Ocala with the Mustangs losing in the first round to Ohio state Champions Cincinnati-LaSalle, then defeating Wisconsin State Champions Preble High School from Green Bay before losing to St. Thomas Aquinas in the consolation semifinals. Winter Haven was blowout by Dacula High School from the Atlanta area, then dropped a tough game to Lehigh before defeating last seasons’ 1A finalists–Hawthorne–in their final game of the tournament.
The National Tournaments weren’t as kind to a few others:
Three of our teams–Tampa Catholic, Bartow and St. Petersburg–were in Chicago, Myrtle Beach and Los Angeles respectively between Christmas and New Years pitting their talents against the best the nation has to offer. The Crusaders went up to the ‘Burbs of Chicago–Aurora to be exact–and blew through their competition by an average margin of victory of fifteen points en route to the title of that classic–that doesn’t include a 63-point destruction in the second round of the tournament either. The Yellow Jackets and the Green Devils were left feeling a little blue for the holidays though–combining for a 2-5 record in their respective tournaments. Bartow’s trip to South Carolina yielded just one win against East Jackson from Georgia while St. Pete’s victory came versus Windward High School from Los Angeles. Bartow’s performance in the Beach Ball classic follows a 1-2 performance in the City of Palms the week before against some stiff obstacles–and they’re not done yet with out-of-state opponents–but more on that next week.
Translation?
All of that action last week translates into a few things–starting with Lakeland–the ‘Naughts get every opportunity to prove they’re legit contenders to play in their hometown for the finals during a seventeen day stretch that’s about to begin. That’s where they’ll play Kathleen, Winter Haven and Bartow twice a piece. Lakeland’s got size in the front court to give opponents issues with Brutcher and Anderson and their main threat in the backcourt–Shaquan McArthur–is a legit 6-4 scorer at the guard position and will give smaller guards fits with his aggressive style of attacking the hole then dishing to those big men. The competition that Bartow has faced over the break is going to make them feel as though they can beat anyone around here and with a healthy Tony Bradley–on any given night in their classification–they can. Tampa Catholic’s going to be an absolute nightmare in their class–as long as they can deal with Berkeley Prep. The Crusaders have two of the better scorers in the nation–much less the state or local area–on their roster in Knox and Dziagwa so as long as they can stay healthy and not have to lean SOLELY on those two–things look to be as bright as they can possibly be for Tampa Catholic. The Green Devils are extremely intriguing because they took off at this point last season following a strong run through the Kingdom of the Sun and appear to be poised to do the same thing. A big match-up with defending 8A State Champs Wellington looms on the 16th of January in Punta Gorda at the Wally Keller Classic which should give the ‘Devils a good gauge of where they’re headed.
Some good games this week:
Tuesday, January 5th
Tampa Catholic at Berkeley Prep
Zephyrhills at Wesley Chapel
Wharton at Sickles
Friday, January 8th
Jesuit at Tampa Catholic
Seffner Christian vs. American Heritage-Plantation (at Naples-Lely High School)
Saturday, January 9th
Jefferson vs. St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg Shootout)
Gibbs vs. Freedom (St. Petersburg Shootout)