By STEVE JACKSON
Only Sumner High has a won and lost record above break-even in South Shore boys high school basketball at the Christmas-New Year holiday break.
The 7-2 Stingrays are the top team in the five area high schools traditionally covered by The Observer News print and digital coverage. At this point, Sumner appears to be the sole prospect in the South Shore for post-season action.
Spoto is next best at 5-6 going into the home game Dec. 22 against 2-8 Freedom High at Spoto at 4 p.m. Coached by Waymon Reed, the Spartans started hot early in the hoop season but have lost two straight and look to a win over weak Freedom to get back to break-even.
Spoto’s Chris Charite and fellow senior Jayden Johnson, an East Bay transfer, have sparked the Spartans in scoring so far. Charite is hitting at 14.4 points per game, and Johnson is scoring 13.5 a game. Jose Deleon is Spoto’s top rebounder, gathering 6.9 rebounds a game.
The Spartans dropped a heart breaker 42-40 to the Bloomingdale Bulls last week to fall to 5-6 on the season. After the holiday break, Spoto has the opportunity to get fat at Brandon’s expense. The Spartans play the 1-7 Eagles at 8 p.m. Jan. 10 in Brandon. A quick rematch is scheduled for Jan. 13 in Spoto at 6:30 p.m. In between, Coach Reed’s club must confront the favored Sumner Stingrays in Spoto at 8 p.m. on Jan.11.
In an interesting tourney game, Spoto duels a red-hot 8-0 North Tampa Christian Academy hoop squad. That game is scheduled for Jan. 14 at a time to be announced at Brooks Debartolo High in Tampa. NCTA is based in Wesley Chapel in Pasco County. The star of NTCA Titans is a 6 ft. 9 in. dominating beanpole Toni Bryant, who is throwing down 21 points a game, gathering 16 rebounds a game and blocking at the rate of nine per game.
The Riverview Sharks are another South Shore hoop squad that has seen its early season fortunes rapidly head south. Under first-year Coach Anthoine Corpening, the Sharks were on a winning roll early in the season. Now, Riverview must pull off some wins to even be considered for the state playoffs. The Sharks have dropped three in a row, embarrassed by Sumner Friday, losing a close game at home to Spoto and getting romped by Strawberry Crest. Sebastian Fowler continues to top the Sharks with 15.8 ppg. Now, Riverview has a tough tourney game over the holidays on Dec. 28. The Sharks have drawn the 8-0 Olympic High team of Charlotte, N.C., for a 9 a.m. game at the Tampa Bay Invitational at Seffner Christian High.
Lennard, coached by Chris Putnam, is another South Shore school struggling to get above break even and possibly make it to the playoffs. The Longhorns bring a 3-5 mark into a Thursday, Dec. 23, conflict with 5-6 Tampa Bay Tech in Tampa at 8 p.m. Last week Lennard beat the 0-8 East Bay Indians and fell to the tough Durant Cougars 59-49. Longhorn Nigel Roseboro tallied 23 points and grabbed four rebounds in the East Bay rout 85-42. The game was tied 7-7 after the first quarter, but Lennard turned it into a one-sided match after that.
After tangling with TBT this week, Lennard takes off for the holidays. The Horns open 2023 at 1-6 Manatee High at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 10. A pair of home games follow. Bloomingdale travels to Ruskin on Jan. 11, and then the rugged Newsome Wolves come calling Jan. 13.
The fifth South Shore hoop squad takes a holiday break with no win in sight. East Bay’s new coach, Marcus Ludwig, merely hopes his Indians squad can show some improvement. East Bay lost two more last week to drop to 0-8. Both games were runaways, first to Lennard 85-42 and then a bit more respectable to Bloomingdale 40-29. The Indians have a break until hosting Armwood at 8 p.m. Jan. 10 and then travel to Newsome Jan. 11 for an 8 p.m. match with powerful Newsome.
