By STEVE JACKSON
South Shore girls high school basketball teams opened their district playoffs — the so-called second season —this week. In opening rounds three South Shore hardwood squads played in 6A-District 11.
Lennard hosted Manatee Feb. 1. That same night East Bay welcomed Sumner to the Indians’ gym on Big Bend Road. District losers hang it up as their season ends. Winners progress to a second round on Feb. 2.
The winner of Lennard vs. Manatee faced Bloomingdale, the number one seed in the district. Whoever wins that Wednesday night game faces the winner of the other side of the bracket for the district championship on Friday, Feb. 4. Both the district champ and the runner-up loser continue play in seeded regional action starting Feb. 8.
East Bay and Sumner clashed Feb. 1 with the winner going on Feb. 2 to face the winner of Braden River-Palmetto from Feb. 1.
For Lennard first-year head coach Cornelius Richardson, the match-up versus Manatee carried a special emotional feeling.
“Both myself and my assistant, Jessica Carter, graduated from Manatee High in 2005. I played for the boys, and she played for the girls,” said Coach Richardson, who led the Lady Longhorns to a 17-8 regular season mark. Lennard girls split its last two regular season games. The girls beat Sickles, 50-32, and then lost to Armwood, 77-58, last week.
East Bay girls also posted a 17-8 regular season worksheet behind the scoring of junior Briyanna Sapp. The Indian girls took care of Sumner twice earlier this season, and Coach Hepburn’s East Bay team was favored over the 10-12 girl Stingrays. Sumner’s leading scorer is Jewell Harwell, a soph with 11.6 points per game.
Another South Shore girls team with aspirations for the district playoffs is the Riverview Sharks of Coach A. McAleavey. The Sharks open their second season Feb. 2 against 16-9 Newsome. The loser is done. The winner heads to the Feb. 4 District 7 championship versus, most-likely, Durant High girls. The Sharks registered two big wins last week to end the regular season at 16-4. They beat Steinbrenner and Hillsborough behind their talented trio of sophomore Masiel Reyes, senior Olivia Zorilla and junior Leilani Brown as the scoring, rebound and steal leaders.
The Spoto Spartans girls lost their final two games of the regular season last week to Jefferson and to Freedom to fall to 2-16. The #6 seeded girl Spartans are likely to end their District 10 second-season hopes against 17-8 Northeast High on Feb. 1.