By STEVE JACKSON
The 2023-2024 boys basketball season ended last week for four of the five competitors in the South Shore. Only Sumner High remains in the hunt for a state championship, as four other squads closed their seasons with losses in district tourneys, which spelled elimination for East Bay High, Spoto High, Lennard High and Riverview High boys hoopsters
Sumner rode to victory in its 7A District 11 championship final and an automatic berth in the regionals battle for a state championship, which starts this week for the 18-9 Stingrays.
The East Bay Indians of Head Coach Jeffrey Turner were also drubbed 70-39 by Palmetto High in the 6A District 10 championship game. Palmetto moves on to the regional playoffs with at least a hope of more games, while East Bay ends a remarkable season after last year’s brutal 0-19 record.
Coach Turner of the Indians will have leading EB scorer Aaron Quarterman return as a senior after compiling a team leading 12.4 points per game this season along with a team leading 4.2 assists per game and a team leading 2.1 steals per game. The Indians will say goodbye to senior big man Kamren Lovett, who was EB’s leading rebounder with 10 a game. Prior to the Palmetto loss, EB nipped Strawberry Crest High and Manatee High in close games.
Spoto High, coached by Waymond Reed, was another South Shore team that exhibited flashes of brilliance but lacked the consistency to compile a record over .500. The Spartans mark overall fell to 9-14 last week with a 58-34 loss to the Freedom High Patriots in district action last Wednesday. Spoto loses graduating senior Jose Deleon, its top scorer and rebounder for the season. Deleon had an average of 14.4 points per game and 11.6 rebounds per game. One of Deleon’s big games was earlier this month when the Spartans nipped Jefferson High 64-63. Deleon threw in 23 points and collected 14 rebounds. A top junior, Donovan McSwain, contributed 21 points and returns for his senior season.
Lennard High, coached by Christopher Putnam, lost in 6A District 10 action 65-50 last week to Bloomingdale for the third time this season. That concludes the Longhorns’ mark at 9-16. Lanky 6-6 sophomore Arcadian Davis dominated in the paint for Lennard, registering 16.9 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game. Davis also compiled 17 DDs for the season, scoring and rebounding in double figures at a tremendous pace. Junior Richard Sykes is another senior-to-be who will be welcomed back by Coach Putnam next season after putting together a good stat year this season.
The Riverview Sharks also failed to make it out of the district tourney. Head Coach Anthone Coorpening and the Sharks were able to top Strawberry Crest High 72-54 in last week’s 7A District 11 tourney. However,the Sharks ended the season at 4-19 with the Feb. 10 loss to Sumner. Sharks leading scorer Bryson Kearney tossed in nine points, below his season average of 15.9 points per game. Sharks sophomore Elijah Gilroy also contributed nine points.
See coverage on Sumner sports in this week’s print and digital ObserverNews.net by Francis Fedor.