By STEVE JACKSON
Spoto High racked up a 3-0 mark last week to run its season record to 8-6. The next best mark by one of the South Shore five boys basketball teams was 2-1, registered by the East Bay High Indians, now 10-7 going into this week and heading down the stretch of the 2024-2025 season. The other three teams in the South Shore—Sumner High at 9-6, Lennard High at 6-8 and Riverview High at 3-9—all won one and lost two last week.
Coached by Waymond Reed, the Spoto Spartans last week played three sub-par teams, all on the road, and swept all three in close games. Spoto early last week bussed to 4-12 Durant, south of Plant City, and edged the Cougars 53-49. The nail-biting victory was duplicated at mid-week on a visit to Robinson High in Tampa. Going down to the wire again, the Spartans nipped 3-12 Robinson 51-49. On its third trip of the week, Spoto took care of a weak Brandon host, 60-53. The five-straight wins jumped the Spartans overall record to 8-6. However, Spoto had a tough game Jan. 14 at home against the visiting 12-5 Bloomingdale Bulls. The Spartans have another beatable team as its foe this Friday evening at 3-14 King High in Tampa at 8 p.m. Northside Christian High of St. Pete, with a 7-9 mark, is the opponent this Saturday, Jan. 18, at 2 p.m. Northside is averaging 64.1 points per game. Spoto is averaging 53 PPG and giving up 52.3 PPG. The stat leaders for the Spartans are 6-2 junior Jerren Rodriquez with 13.6 PPG and 6-3 junior Jesse Harden with 13.4 PPG and 9.9 rebounds per game. Senior Donovan McSwain contributes about 10 PPG and 3.4 assists per game, along with 1.6 steals per game. Next week Spoto closes the regular season versus three teams with losing records: 0-14 Middleton High at Spoto on Jan. 21, 7-9 Freedom High in Tampa on Jan. 22 and 5-13 Steinbrenner High at Spoto on Jan. 24. The Spartans hope to start the playoff in 5A-District 9 after that.
East Bay, under Coach Yusef Hemmings, bumped its overall record to 10-7 last week by winning a pair and dropping one.
The loss was last Friday to the powerful 12-5 Plant City Raiders 73-56. It was the Indians ninth loss in a row to the Raiders, led by 6-7 Gavin Tinsley with 22 points and 10 rebounds. The Indians bounced back to topple the Riverview Sharks 54-44 on the road. EB was sparked by senior Kyree Williams with 15 points on a 5 for 11 shooting night from three-point range.
Junior Curry Staples added 10 points and six rebounds. Junior Armani Smith tallied five points and grabbed four rebounds. Other contributors were senior Lamar Anderson, four points, seven rebounds; junior Moshin Hemmings, six points; junior Lennox Duggan, five points; and senior Nicholas Ghent, eight points and three rebounds. At mid-week, the Indians beat Jefferson High 75-29.
Longhorn junior Devin Freeman is tightly defended by Middleton Sherrick Oliver as Freeman tries to make a play.
Lennard junior Nathan Jorden on a fast break layup in game action vs Middleton
East Bay has a challenging schedule for this week with three opponents with shining winning records. First up Jan. 14 was at powerhouse Newsome Wolves. The Wolves have a sparkling 16-1 record, their only loss to Catholic of Covington, KY. Then Jan. 15, the Indians travel to Seffner to challenge 10-6 Armwood High. East Bay closes the rough week trekking to Chamberlain High, a 14-3 team in Tampa. Next week the travel grind continues Jan. 21 at 7-9 Freedom High and Jan. 22 at 17-1 Tampa Prep. The Indians end the regular season at home with 6-8 Strawberry Crest High, Jan. 24. East Bay then hopes for a spot in the playoff, starting Jan. 28 for the 5A District 9 team.
Lennard High, of Coach Christopher Putnam, also went 1-2 last week to enter this week at 6-8. The Longhorns lost to Plant City, 84-51, on January 7. On January 8 Lennard High beat Middleton High 78-45 in a season-high Horns offensive explosion. Lennard’s entire squad contributed in the lopsided Middleton whipping. Senior Nate Montalvo hit 4 of 5 threes, scoring 18 points and garnering five rebounds. Senior Richard Sykes scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Junior Edgar Delvalle put in 10 points and snared five rebounds. Junior Nathan Jorden had 16 points and four rebounds while brother junior Noah Jorden netted six points and four rebounds. Junior Devin Freeman scored seven points. Sophomore Moises Abreu hit for six points, and sophomore Terry Wood collected four points and five rebounds. Junior Trenton Ransom hit for two points and had four rebounds. Senior Eric West and junior Ryan Roberts played but did not score. The week ended with a 50-45 loss to 16-1 Newsome. Foes this week for the Longhorns included this Tuesday at 9-6 Sumner High, Wednesday at 7-10 Winthrop Prep in Tampa and back home in Ruskin, Friday at 8 p.m. versus 3-9 Hillsborough High.
Lennard wraps the regular season next week. On Jan. 21 King High at 3-14 visits Ruskin. Then the Horns travel to 3-13 Tampa Bay Tech on Jan. 22. The curtain comes down on the regular season Jan. 24 with 7-9 Freedom High at Ruskin. All games start at 8 p.m. Lennard’s playoff season in 7A-District 11 starts the last week of January on a date yet to be determined.
The Riverview Sharks also went 1-2 last week to put their season mark at 3-9, under Coach Anthone Corpening. The Sharks began the week at home, losing 54-44 to rival East Bay. The next night on the Sharks hardwood, they snapped a five-game losing streak. Riverview easily conquered King High 69-46. A trip to Durant put another loss on the Sharks, 55-41. Riverview ends its regular season this week and next with the opportunity to win a game or two. The competition Jan. 14 was at meek 1-11 Brandon High. Strawberry Crest at 6-8 is due to visit from Dover for a Jan. 17 game. Robinson, with a poor 3-12 record, comes to Riverview for a Jan. 21 contest. The Sharks then close out the regular season with two tough opponents on the road. Plant High, 14-3, provides the opposition Jan. 22, and the final season game is at 14-5 Storm on Jan.24.
Francis Fedor Photos
Longhorn senior Richard Sykes makes a pass after drawing Middleton players into the lane.
Sumner High, of Coach Augustine Gaddis, salvaged a win last Friday, 71-51, over Bloomingdale after losing two games earlier last week to tough foes Newsome, 70-58, and Plant High, 52-45. That left the Stingrays at 9-6 going into the Jan. 14 duel with rival Lennard at Sumner. The ’Rays have defeated the Longhorns all five times they have played. The schedule gets even tougher this week after the Lennard contest. The powerful Wharton Wildcats at 13-3 host Sumner Jan. 15. The ’Rays then have another rough road foe Jan. 17 in the 14-2 Blake High Yellow Jackets of Tampa. Sumner then has two games in the Booker High MLK Classic Tourney in Sarasota. The Stingrays tangle with 10-5 Southeast High this Saturday, Jan. 18, at 1:30 p.m. to close the week. In the same MLK Tourney in Sarasota at 2 p.m., Venice High, with an 8-8 mark, is the competition for a Jan. 20 game. Sumner closes the season on the road with three opponents that it should handle: Hillsborough Jan. 22 at 7 p.m., Robinson Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. and Middleton Jan 27 at 7 p.m. Sumner opens the playoff season after that in 7A-District 11 at a site and date/time to be determined. For more coverage of Sumner sports see articles and photos every week in The Observer News print and on digital at ObserverNews.net by Francis Fedor.