By STEVE JACKSON
All five South Shore high school boys and girls teams came out on the short end of the stick in basketball playoffs last week. The losses brought an end to four of the schools’ seasons. The Sumner Stingrays boys, however, even though losing to Bloomingdale, live to fight another day. The Stingrays, now 15-8, play Thursday, Feb. 17, against Gaither and its dominating 6-6 big man, Tawfig Thomas, in regionals. (For full coverage of Sumner see other article in this week’s Observer-News.)
The Lennard Longhorns dropped a playoff, 50-33, game to Bloomingdale. Longhorn first-year coach Christopher Putnam had no alternative but to pack up the boys’ uniforms until next season. Lennard has a promising crop of underclassmen returning from the 21-22 season of 7-17.
Coach Dale Chambers had the same chore at East Bay. Now 9-13, the Indians lost their final game of the season in an opening playoff match to Manatee, 60-43. East Bay was sparked by juniors Aidan Showers with 10 points and Jayden Johnson with 13. Indians finishing their senior campaign were Adrian Issac with seven points and Jaylen Webster with six points.
The Riverview boys also fell short offensively in their final playoff game. The Sharks of coach Milton Clifton dropped to 2-17 in the playoff loss to Durant, 64-51.
Spoto was the other South Shore boys loser, slipping to 4-16. The Spartans of Coach Waymond Reed played tough against Boca Ciego of Gulfport but lost 68-59. The Spartans look to bounce back next year with one of the top players in the South Shore, Ben Walker. A junior, Walker tallied 21 points in the Spoto finale, including five of nine from 3-point range. Junior Chris Charite and soph Deacon Spencer also contributed 14 points each. Soph Jose DeLeon grabbed eight boards. Senior Ian Farrington completed his senior Spartan season with a 10 point night, six for six at the free throw line.
All Girls end season
All five South Shore girls hoop teams experienced a losing end to their seasons last week.
Lennard came up short for the fourth time this season against nemesis Bloomingdale, 43-33. Lennard’s chances to win took a blow when star freshman Kyra Vance left the game with an injury in the opening quarter. Coach Richardson, however, had a good first year at Lennard, compiling an 18-10 mark. The girls made it to regionals for the first time in school history. The Lady Longhorns also beat Newsome High for the first time in Lennard history. Lennard proved to be a scrappy, hustling squad all season. Lennard was sparked by seniors Halei Murrell, Savannah Cox and Mara Johnson in scoring, rebounds, steals and assists throughout the 21-22 campaign. Lennard’s Lady Longhorns finished among the top 20 girls teams in the US with 165 steals for the season.
The East Bay girls also fell in their final playoff game, a heartbreaking 45-43 loss to Land O’ Lakes, after advancing with a victory over Sumner. Coach Tamika Hepburn’s girls lose some top seniors from this 18-10 season but return leading scorer and playmaker junior Briyana Sapp and dynamic frosh Jatia Markes. Departing seniors include top rebounder Janaya Douglas along with Zeniah Anthony, Niya Parker, Tatya Santos Lopez and Natasha Santos Montalvo.
The Riverview girls were sent home by Newsome in district to drop the curtain on a 16-5 season. Also losing the previous week in district were Spoto, finishing at 2-17, and Sumner, at 10-13.