By STEVE JACKSON
The East Bay Indians boys basketball team is off to a roaring start with three straight wins to open the 2024-25 season. The other four teams in the mythical South Shore Five all have won one game. Sumner High is 1-1. Lennard High, Spoto High and Riverview High are all 1-2 and trying to grab a win prior to taking a Thanksgiving holiday break or soon after returning.
East Bay plays under Yusef Hemmings, its head coach in his second year at the helm for EB. Last season coach Hemmings was 10-14 in his initial campaign after the misery of a 0-19 record for the Indians in 2022-2023. East Bay plays this hoop season in 5A District 9, which includes Southeast High in Bradenton at 2-1 overall and 0-1 in that league. The Hillsborough High Terriers also play in that classification, and in the early going, the Terriers are 0-3 overall and 0-0 in the league. The Indians are undefeated overall and have yet to play a league opponent.
On Wednesday, Nov. 27, EB makes the short trip to battle Winthrop College Prep at 7:30 p.m. Winthrop is also 3-0, so one of the teams will taste defeat for the first time this young season. The day after Thanksgiving East Bay has a home court noon tip-off game with St. John’s Day School. The next home game for the Indians is set for next Friday, Dec. 6, with EB hosting Brandon High at 6:30 p.m.
In its first three games, EB has amassed 198 points while holding its opposition to 148. That’s an average of 66 points per game on offense, while holding the opposition to an average of 49 plus per game. All that was accomplished in wins over Lennard High, 62-54; over Middleton High, 61-30; and over Sumner High, 76-64.
The Riverview High Sharks are looking to reduce their deficit points scored/yielded per game, which has created a 1-2 season for their head coach, Anthony Corpening, and his squad playing in 7A District 11. The Sharks have tallied 150 points but given up 173. This averages out to 50 points a game scored but 54.6 points per game yielded. Now the Sharks face three straight road games before returning home to contest Newsome High, Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. The away games are Dec. 3 versus Sumner, Dec. 4 versus Middleton and Dec. 6 in Plant City. All tip at 6:30 p.m. The Sharks are in 7A District 11, which includes Lennard High and Palm Harbor University High, all 0-0 in league play with Lennard at 1-2 overall and Palm Harbor, 0-3 overall.
Spoto High is another South Shore hoop squad that is trying to improve on an under .500 2023-24 campaign. The Spartans registered 9-14 with head coach Waymon Reed last year. Now, with a fresh season and a roster dominated by junior Jesse Harden and senior Donovan McSwain, Spoto has been saddled with a pair of opening season losses, 81-68 to Strawberry Crest and 67-57 to Sumner High. Spoto hit paydirt last Friday with a defensive struggle and win over the Riverview Sharks, 49-45. Spoto competes this season in 5A District 9 with Jesuit High, 3-0 overall so far, and Hillsborough High, 0-3. Next up for Spoto is a tournament at Spoto, featuring games with Legacy Christian Academy at 4 p.m., Nov. 29, and versus Lakeland Christian at 6 p.m., Nov. 30. The Spartans continue next week at home against Plant City, Dec. 3, and versus Armwood, Dec. 4, both at 6:30 p.m. A match-up with the Newsome Wolves follows on Dec. 6 at Lithia at 6:30 p.m.
Lennard High is another of the South Shore Five that is attempting to break a skid of losing seasons. The Longhorns went 10-15 under their head coach, Christopher Putnam, last season. Coach Putnam is in his fourth season at Lennard and has never posted a winning record. In fact, the only team in the South Shore Five that has consistently recorded a winning record is Sumner High, which is going for its fifth straight winning season since Sumner opened full play. This season, the Longhorns are at 1-2 in the early going. Lennard finally broke the ice with a 54-39 win over Durant High last week, sparked by leading scorer 6-5 senior Nate Montalvo’s 14 points and 6-2 junior Nathan Jorden’s 9 points. Lennard suffered two opening season losses, 63-54 against Armwood High and 62-54 versus East Bay High. This season Lennard plays in 7A District 11 with Sumner High and the Riverview Sharks. All are 0-0 in district with Sumner at 1-1, Lennard at 1-2 and Riverview at 1-2 overall in the early going.
Lennard continues action next week, Dec. 3 at Brandon High and Dec. 5 at Strawberry Crest, both at 6:30 p.m.
The next Ruskin hardwood game for the Horns is with visiting Bloomingdale High, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m.